


All Up In My Business

by wooziwinks



Series: Business of Boyfriends [1]
Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Office, Enemies to Lovers, Forced Collaboration, M/M, Misunderstandings, SVT but make it business, and bossman seungcheol, and manager jihoon, boogyu, booseoksoon, brief mentions of seokhoon and soonwoo, everyone works in the same office together so the rest of SVT will be in the bg, its brief but they go to a bar, lots of boochan bickering, lots of boogyu bickering too
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-25
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:00:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 26,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24367693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wooziwinks/pseuds/wooziwinks
Summary: Account Executive Boo Seungkwan experiences a missed connection with a mysterious stranger in a bar the night before kicking off preparations for the big pitch at work. Things take a turn for the ridiculous, though, when that certain individual appears at the office the next day. Is meeting Kim Mingyu fate (no) or just a big headache for Seungkwan (yes)? He's pretty sure he knows the answer. // It's office au boogyu babey! Featuring plenty of SVT office antics.
Relationships: Boo Seungkwan/Kim Mingyu
Series: Business of Boyfriends [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1843651
Comments: 25
Kudos: 156





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> dedicated to the actual queen of boogyu, jo (twitter: jigglykwan)! thanks for the office au idea :) I hope yall enjoy sassy seungkwan and SVT in suits

Seungkwan stared down into his glass, using his little cocktail straw to stir the melting ice around with a sigh. 

_ You’ll regret not coming out, after today I’ll be too busy! _

Was the message typed out on his phone, but he read it over one more time before deleting it away without sending. His roommate was the kind to worry, so it wouldn’t do any good to guilt trip him for being too tired to come get a drink with him. 

Even if it was true: tomorrow they were kicking off preparation for the big pitch, which meant there were a lot of late nights ahead of him. It was why he wanted to get a drink today, but it wasn’t any fun if he was alone. 

Seungkwan sighed again, sipping at his drink with his chin in his hand. 

“You seem pretty glum. Did your date stand you up?”

The man in the barstool next to him asked and Seungkwan turned to give him a look - but froze when they met eyes. 

He was young, around Seungkwan’s age and wearing a suit with a loosened tie similar to his own, but that was where the similarities ended. This man was  _ gorgeous _ : tanned skin, dark curls, white teeth, dazzling smile and dark eyes watching him like he was the only man in the room. 

“Something like that.”

Seungkwan squeaked, horrified by the sound of his own voice before he cleared his throat and sat up a little straighter. The man pursed his lips sympathetically. 

“Aw. Can I buy you a drink instead?”

His eyes were glittering as he peered at Seungkwan, and now that the initial wave of shock had worn off, he was finding it a little amusing. Who  _ was _ this guy, anyway?

“You can give it a shot...”

He shrugged, leaning his chin in his hand again, expression coy. The man raised his eyebrows. 

“You want to do shots?”

Seungkwan laughed at that. 

“This isn’t that kind of bar. Anyways…”

He peered back over at his melting glass, stirring the straw in it again. 

“I already have a drink.”

The supermodel was pouting again. 

“Aww, okay. But can we chat anyways? I’m Kim Mingyu.”

He flashed the dazzling white teeth again, by way of introduction. Seungkwan looked the man up and down, still not really sure what to make of what was happening right now. Kim Mingyu, huh? Two common names separately, but somehow together it had a nice ring to it. 

“I’m Boo Seungkwan.”

He answered, finally angling in his seat slightly to face the man better. 

“Boo Seungkwan? Wow, it almost sounds familiar…”

Mingyu pursed those pouty lips of his again, while Seungkwan watched. Did he know how pouty he was? Seungkwan tended to pout too, but at least he was aware of it. 

“Are you famous or something?”

The man lit up, and it made Seungkwan huff out another laugh. 

“Not yet, I’m afraid.”

He took the opportunity to finish his drink that was half melted ice at this point anyways, setting the glass between them on the counter. 

“Okay, buy me a drink, Kim Mingyu.”

The man grinned at that. 

“What’ll you have?”

Seungkwan shrugged. 

“Whatever you like.”

Mingyu didn’t need to be told twice. He flagged down the bartender and ordered them both the house special, a fruity kind of cosmopolitan. Good taste, Seungkwan silently graded him. Usually when he let some guy order for them both, the dude would take the opportunity to be a show off and order something gross and strong. 

When their drinks arrived Mingyu offered Seungkwan a glass, then clinked his against it. 

“To new friends!”

He cheered, and Seungkwan eyed him over the top of his glass as he drank. 

“Oh, is that what we are?”

The grin melted off Mingyu’s face instantly as he peered across at him. 

“Well yeah, aren’t we friends now?”

Seungkwan shrugged with pursed lips, turning his stool away slightly. 

“Well I  _ thought _ you had implied you were gonna be my date tonight.”

The dark haired man grinned again, leaning in a little closer. 

“Friends can be dates too, you know.” 

Seungkwan hummed noncommittally as he sipped at his drink, and Mingyu chuckled at that. 

“You really mean to tell me you’re single, Seungkwan?”

He peeked over at the man, not sure what to make of his tone. 

“Is it such a surprise?”

Mingyu chuckled again, dragging a hand through his hair. 

“Yeah it is, because you’re really cute.”

Seungkwan was at a loss for words so he simply sipped at his drink again, but there was nothing he could do to hide the pink that flooded his cheeks. Finally he huffed, more frustrated at his own reaction than anything. 

“I’m  _ cute? _ I’m an adult, you know!”

Mingyu laughed. 

“You’re an adult,  _ and _ you’re cute!”

Seungkwan huffed again, and the man waved his hand to concede with a grin before leaning closer. 

“Okay, howabout sexy, then?”

Seungkwan clamped his mouth shut at that, looking over Mingyu’s dark eyes and grinning lips that were suddenly very close to him before turning to hastily gulp down his drink. 

“What’re you up to, Kim Mingyu…”

He murmured, and the man tilted his head curiously. 

“I’m not up to anything!”

Seungkwan eyed him from over his glass and he put up his hands in defense. 

“Really! I just wanted to talk to you because I thought you were cute. And you looked like you needed some company.” 

Seungkwan dropped his gaze to his glass, turning the straw slowly through it as he thought about it. 

“So do you live around here?”

He asked as casually as he could. Mingyu shook his head as he sipped at his drink. 

“You?”

Seungkwan chewed on his bottom lip for a moment, then nodded. 

“Yeah, actually.”

“Oh.”

Was all Mingyu said, but it buzzed between them as they both became suddenly more interested in the contents of their glasses, peeking up when they thought the other might not see. Suddenly Seungkwan hopped to his feet and downed his drink. 

“I’m going to the restroom, I’ll be right back.”

He said hastily before scurrying away, refusing to look over his shoulder at Mingyu as he elbowed his way through the crowd and ducked into the bathroom. 

Once alone Seungkwan braced his hands on either side of the sink, the cold porcelain helping to ground him. His whole body felt like jello, and he didn’t think it was from the drinks. He turned on the cold water and leaned down to splash some on his face, then lifted his head to peer at himself in the mirror. 

“Okay Seungkwan, what’re you doing.”

He inquired of his reflection, but the dripping pink face simply blinked back at him. He sighed, crossing the room to grab a paper towel and dry himself off. Then without thinking, he pulled down his navy suit pants just enough to peek at the band of his underwear. 

Oh good. It was a cute pair that made his ass look fat. That would be good if he decided that this mysterious, tall, dark handsome fellow who was calling him cute and buying him drinks would be coming home with him later. Not that he was deciding anything, of course, but at least the option was there. 

Seungkwan checked his watch and then dragged a hand through his hair. Oh god, it was only 7:30 pm. It was  _ way _ too early in the evening to be making bad decisions. Not that he  _ was _ , but it seemed like he was dangerously close to maybe deciding something. Something about Kim Mingyu. 

Who the hell  _ was _ Kim Mingyu! Was this some kind of joke or something? Seungkwan was no stranger to getting hit on in the bar, even by decent looking guys, but  _ this guy _ … was something else completely. He was throwing Seungkwan off, but he couldn’t tell if he liked that about him or not. 

Seungkwan turned to peer across the tile at himself in the mirror again. Kim Mingyu… had called him cute. Sexy even. Did he really mean it…?

He took a deep breath, and tried to offer his reflection a determined smile. Why overthink this? There was nothing to lose here, and Seungkwan had been moaning and groaning about being alone at the bar, anyways. Might as well see what happens next! 

He turned and stepped out of the bathroom, drifting through the crowd with newfound poise on his way back to the bar. But when he approached the stools, Mingyu was nowhere in sight. 

Seungkwan frowned, turning on his heel to scan through the crowd, but there was no extremely handsome Kim Mingyu to be found. Seungkwan sunk slowly into his seat. He knew the man couldn’t be in the bathroom, because he had just been there himself. 

“Excuse me?”

He waved to the bartender as he scurried by, nibbling on his bottom lip from embarrassment as he asked, 

“The guy I was sitting here with - did you happen to see where he went?”

The bartender frowned as he thought for a moment, then nodded. 

“Oh yeah, he left.”

“ _ What? _ ”

The bartender nodded again and pointed to the door. 

“Yeah, I saw him walk out.”

Seungkwan’s jaw literally dropped. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing right now. After the literal mental breakdown he’d just had over this man in the bathroom, he was  _ gone?! _

_ “ _ So are you going to be paying his tab?”

The bartender lifted a brow at him as he set down the bill in front of Seungkwan, who continued to look shocked as he stared down at it. 

“Oh my god.”

He said out loud, because he really couldn’t believe this was happening to him. What had this been, some kind of ruse for a free drink? How  _ pathetic!  _ And Seungkwan had fallen for it, hook, line, and sinker! What a… joke. 

“Fine.”

He sighed, pulling out his wallet to slam a few bills on the bar because he was a good person who did not punish bartenders for his own incompetency, and he didn’t  _ need  _ the few extra dollars anyways,  _ Kim Mingyu. _

Ugh. The name felt like poison on his tongue now. Seungkwan couldn’t believe he’d ever considered actually  _ sleeping _ with that guy. Not that he even  _ had, _ anyway. 

Seungkwan carried his hurt pride out of the bar and the few blocks home, cursing that mysterious stranger and the joke he’d made of him. He should’ve known better, Seungkwan told himself later that night, lying awake in bed and still stewing over how sour his little happy hour had gone. A tall, dark, handsome man buying him drinks and calling him sexy?  _ Please. _ Well, he wouldn’t be falling for  _ that  _ again. 

_ That Kim Mingyu… _

Was his last bitter thought as Seungkwan drifted off to sleep. 


	2. Chapter 2

“Can’t this thing go any faster?”

Seungkwan complained, mashing his hand over the elevator button for his floor.

“Quit it Seungkwan, you’re gonna break it!”

Chan snapped, hip-checking the older man away from the buttons with a stern expression. 

“I don’t wanna get stuck in the elevator with _ you!” _

He added, and Seungkwan mirrored back the dark look he shot him. 

“That makes two of us then.”

Then he checked his watch again and sighed. 

“We’re gonna be  _ late!” _

He whined, edging towards the buttons again but shrinking away from the look Chan gave him. 

“Well  _ you’re _ gonna be late,  _ I _ got the coffee, so…”

Chan shrugged, and it was an impressive feat considering he was juggling just about a dozen coffees grouped up in little cardboard carriers. 

“I don’t  _ get  _ the coffee anymore because I’m an  _ account executive _ .”

Seungkwan fired back with a poison honey smile, dodging the kick Chan aimed his way. 

“What are you again, an intern? Do you even earn a paycheck or are you paid in Starbucks gift cards.”

“I’m an  _ account coordinator _ and I have a  _ salary. _ ”

Chan strained through gritted teeth, stomping down on Seungkwan’s polished dress shoe. Seungkwan let out a cry just as the elevator doors finally cranked open on their floor, and half the office turned in their direction. 

“Boo Seungkwan, you’re late! Get your ass in here!”

Snapped a dark haired man from the doorway of a glass conference room across the way, and Seungkwan tried to flash his most dazzling, I’m-too-cute-for-you-to-be-mad-at-me smile. 

“Good morning Mr. Choi! Look, we brought the coffee!”

He gestured to Chan as the younger man stepped off the elevator, who was halfway to yelling ‘Hey!’ before a menacing look from Seungkwan shut him up. They both scurried over to the conference room and ducked inside under the watchful eye of their manager, Choi Seungcheol, and started spreading the coffee out on the large oak table in the center of the room. 

“ _ As I was saying _ ,”

Seungcheol emphasized as he eyed the latecomers and shut the door behind him to turn to the rest of the room, 

“As you all know, today we’ll be kicking off the trial period of housing my department in this office. It’ll be essential while we all collaborate on the upcoming pitch, and it’ll save me a lot of time not to be going back and forth between offices so much.”

He pursed his lips, clearly pleased with that last detail, before continuing, 

“If this works well, we can consider making the change permanent. So, without further ado, let me introduce you all to the team.”

He gestured with an outstretched hand to the group of young men that had been quietly standing beside him during his little introduction, and they waved now to the group. Seungkwan finally settled into his seat with a huff just in time to look up at the newcomers and lock eyes with one certain tall, dark, handsome individual who had just noticed him too. 

_ Kim Mingyu.  _

This couldn’t be happening. By the time he’d woken up that morning, the events of the evening before had seemed like a dream and Seungkwan had convinced himself they were. But now here was  _ Kim Mingyu _ in the flesh, in  _ his _ office, smiling at him from beside his  _ boss _ . ...Who was apparently also  _ his _ boss.

“This is Jeon Wonwoo, Hansol Chwe, and Kim Mingyu. I hope you guys will welcome them into this office and get along and like, show them where the good microwave is and whatever.”

Seungcheol was deflating fast, scrubbing the back of his neck as he peered over his little crew and the conference room of coworkers staring back up at them. He’d called this meeting, but it seemed it was over already. 

“There’s not much left to say so… Why don’t you guys show them where their desks are.”

He gestured vaguely for the group to come forward, meaning the meeting was over, and the man sitting beside Seungkwan hopped to his feet to pump both fists in the air. 

“Woohoo! You’re coming with me, Wonwoo!”

“Don’t be a weirdo, Soonyoung.”

Barked another man as he stepped past him, heading towards Hansol. 

“Hey, Wonwoo’s my  _ best friend! _ I get to work with my best friend now, Jihoon!”

Soonyoung called after him, beaming from ear to ear and giggling like it was ice cream day at summer camp as he scampered over to wrap his arms around the arm of the best friend in question. But Jihoon just ignored him, clapping a hand on Hansol’s shoulder instead. 

“Welcome, I’m Lee Jihoon, I’m an account manager here. I’ll show you to your desk.”

The one called Hansol nodded silently and was led away, leaving only Kim Mingyu. 

“Seungkwan! Come here.”

Seungcheol barked and the younger man yelped, hurrying over. The manager gestured to Mingyu with a hand on Seungkwan’s shoulder. 

“This is-”

“Kim Mingyu. So I’ve heard.”

Seungkwan finished for him, offering out his hand with a sickly sweet smile. 

Mingyu eyed his expression curiously before taking his hand to shake. He stiffened as he felt Seungkwan’s grip tighten, crushing his fingers in a death squeeze without his smile so much as twitching out of place. 

“Nice to meet you.”

Mingyu gasped, snatching his hand back and shaking it out. Seungcheol seemed not to notice, and clapped Seungkwan once on the back. 

“Seungkwan, I put Mingyu at the desk next to you, why don’t you show him there. He’ll be joining you in the pitch so you guys are going to be working closely together for the next few weeks.”

Seungkwan gritted his teeth but maintained his smile as he peered up at his boss. 

“Of course.”

Seungcheol nodded, satisfied, and turned to file out of the room with the last of the stragglers. Seungkwan turned to watch them go, waiting until the room was empty before spinning on his heel to face Mingyu again. 

_ “You!” _

He hissed, his smile now replaced with a glare so fiery it threatened to light the man up on the spot. Mingyu instantly raised his hands in defense, eyebrows skyrocketing in surprise. 

“Me??”

“What the  _ hell  _ are you doing here?”

Seungkwan snapped, stomping forward to wag an accusing finger in the man’s face. 

“You’ve got a lot of nerve showing up here after  _ ditching me in the bar last night! _ ”

Mingyu looked offended. 

“I didn’t ditch you -  _ you _ ditched  _ me! _ ”

“Ha! You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Seungkwan huffed, turning away from the man to cross his arms. Mingyu took a step closer. 

“I honestly didn’t know that you worked here… Maybe that was why your name sounded familiar? I was in the area because I had been checking out this office…”

Seungkwan held up a hand. 

“I don’t want to hear it. This is ridiculous. I mean really, this has to be a joke. Am I a joke to you, Kim Mingyu?”

He turned on the man who jumped back, but Seungkwan just held up his hand again. 

“Don’t answer that. Actually, don’t even speak to me. And don’t worry about the pitch either because I’ll be having you taken off of that. What’s your job title again?”

Mingyu frowned, wondering if this was a trick question after being ordered not to speak, but finally answered, 

“Senior Account Executive.”

“Damn.”

Seungkwan cursed under his breath. He turned on his heel with a sigh, crossing over to collect his discarded briefcase and then holding open the door for his -  _ ugh  _ \- coworker. 

“No matter. I’ll figure it out. Come on.”

Mingyu continued to watch the man with a frown as if he had no idea what he would do next, quickly scooping up his own briefcase and scurrying through the door before Seungkwan changed his mind and slammed it on him. 

He followed the younger man into the open office area and over to a collection of desks, one of which was meticulously organized with colorful office supplies and cute decorations. Seungkwan set his bag down at that one and gestured unceremoniously to the one beside it. 

“There’s your desk. Your password is on the sticky note.”

Mingyu watched the man settle into his desk another moment before turning to his own, plopping into the chair and taking a few minutes to adjust it. He then turned to his computer, clicking it on and pulling the sticky note off his screen. While he waited for it to boot up, he turned back to his deskmate. 

“Hey, Seungkwan-”

But the younger man held up a hand to silence him, finishing whatever he was typing before turning to lean in close. 

“Listen up,  _ Kim Mingyu. _ ”

He grabbed the man by the tie, pulling him close enough to growl in his ear without anyone else in the office noticing. 

“You’re dead to me, do you understand? Do not speak to me, do not even look at me. You’ve wasted enough of my time already. This pitch is mine and you’re not gonna screw it up for me.”

Mingyu pulled his eyebrows together in a frown but nodded and, satisfied, Seungkwan released his tie and turned back to his work. He listened to the older man sigh and turn slowly back to his computer to begin slowly puttering away at his work, and Seungkwan smiled to himself. 

It didn’t matter if Kim Mingyu was real, and he really was his coworker. He could just keep ignoring him, and it’d be like he wasn’t even there. Seungkwan had bigger fish to fry, anyway. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> more to come! leave a like or comment if you enjoy it so far~


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to see if I can get through this story without having to get into what their company actually does lol also business jihoon is the real reason im writing this story <3 (jk jk but kdfjlk)

“Hiiii Jihoonie~…”

Seungkwan singsonged as he bounced on light feet into his manager’s office, shutting the door behind him before plopping down on the far end of the couch that lined the side of the room. 

It had been a hard sell to upper management to allow a  _ couch _ of all things in Jihoon’s office, but the fact that the man had convinced them just proved why he was head of the marketing department and making the big bucks. 

Jihoon  _ had _ also agreed to start wearing actual suits to the office in exchange, and anyone who knew the man knew how big of a deal that was, although even now as he sat lounging on his couch he had already discarded his jacket and loosened his tie, Seungkwan noted. By the end of the day his shirt would probably be untucked and have the sleeves rolled too, as his state of dress (or undress) tended to unravel by 5 pm. 

“Don’t call me that.”

The man grunted without looking up from tapping on his phone, and then added, 

“What’s up?”

Seungkwan folded his hands neatly in his lap and leaned forward, organizing his thoughts with a poised smile. 

“Well, I’d like to talk to you about the pitch.”

“Mhm.”

“Particularly, the pitch team.”

“Mhm?”

“In particular, that new addition from the design department, Mingyu.”

“Uh-huh…?”

Jihoon was nodding along without looking up from his phone, and Seungkwan huffed. This was  _ not  _ a part of what he had rehearsed in the mirror this morning. He decided to just spit it out. 

“I think you should take him off the team.”

“No.”

“What?!”

Seungkwan was instantly outraged, but it didn’t seem to phase Jihoon on his phone, which outraged him even more. 

“Can’t you put down your phone while you’re mentoring your managee?!”

He huffed, and Jihoon finally lifted his gaze to raise an eyebrow across at the man. 

“I’m ordering some lunch delivery.”

He returned to tapping on his phone with a shrug. 

“Let me know what you want and I’ll throw it in the cart, my treat.”

“Is that supposed to distract me?”

Seungkwan pouted, though he did lean closer to eye the menu Jihoon was scrolling through. The older man huffed out a laugh. 

“It’s more like a consolation prize, because I don’t think you’re going to get what you want this time, Seungkwan.”

The younger man only pouted more. 

“Why not! Can’t you hear me out?”

Jihoon set down his phone to grimace across at Seungkwan, who instantly straightened in his seat, recognizing that he finally had his thirty second elevator pitch. 

“You and I have been studying Togokon for ages now, we know that company like the back of our hand.  _ And _ you and I have also done presentations together before, so we know we work well together. Why bring a stranger in at the last second? Who knows how he might throw us off. It seems like an unnecessary risk.”

The older man crossed his arms. 

“Yeah but he’s  _ not _ a stranger, he’s from Seungcheol’s department and apparently one of the best when it comes to design - which we need on this pitch.”

He tilted his head to the side, eyeing his managee. 

“Plus, he’s a senior account executive, so he’s the right fit for our third slot. Don’t forget you’re still at a junior level, Seungkwan. Togokon will want someone senior in the room.”

“Well  _ you’ll _ be there…”

The younger mumbled through pouted lips, his pride thoroughly bruised at being reminded of his junior status. Jihoon just shrugged at that. 

“Yeah, but you know I’m pretty useless when it comes to presentations.”

He was well known for being the sit-back-and-let-the-kids-run-the-show type with clients, though behind closed doors he ran his department like a naval vessel. Seungkwan huffed. 

“Can’t  _ Seokmin _ join instead? He’s an SAE...”

“Is he a designer?”

Jihoon countered, then eyed the man again. 

“What’s gotten into you anyway, do you have some kind of problem with Mingyu?”

Seungkwan slapped a hand down on his knee, puffing up his chest. 

“Yes! Yes, that’s exactly it. In fact, I’d like to file a formal complaint!”

Jihoon hesitated. 

“...Seriously?”

There was a strained beat between the two men as they eyed each other before Seungkwan deflated with a sigh and Jihoon let go of the breath he was holding too, with a roll of his eyes. 

His touchy managee tended to come to him about once a week claiming he needed to file a complaint, and although it was bogus about 99.9% of the time he still had to take it seriously for at least a moment in case - god forbid - something really had happened. 

Instead, Seungkwan whined. 

“Okay  _ no, _ but I hate him. Isn’t that enough??”

“‘Fraid not.”

Jihoon scoffed, dropping his gaze down to his phone again. 

“You’ll have to learn to get along with Mingyu for this pitch, Seungkwan, sometimes that’s just the way it goes. It’s just for a few weeks, anyways. And don’t forget, you’ll be up for a promotion if you do well on this so I don’t want to hear any more whining.”

The younger man sighed, pursing his lips together in a frown and squeezing his hands on the tops of his knees, staring down at the whites of his knuckles. 

“As if I could forget…”

He grumbled, the  _ promotion jitters _ \- as he had so titled them - stirring in the pit of his stomach as the image of Mingyu cackling like an evil witch swirled around in his head. This pitch was supposed to be his chance to prove himself but he didn’t have  _ control _ of it anymore and it wasn’t  _ fair  _ and it was all Mingyu’s  _ fault!  _

But he kept all that to himself, knowing better than to invoke the ire of his manager, and instead sighed again. 

“ _ Fine.  _ Please buy me a mediteranean salad.”

“Already done.”

Jihoon responded, and when Seungkwan glanced over at his phone he saw the man was now tapping away at a flashy rhythm game. He rolled his eyes and stood, crossing to the door. 

“Department meeting in 10!”

Jihoon called after him without looking up, Seungkwan only offering a grunt in response before stepping out of the office. 

He locked eyes with Mingyu from across the room as he emerged, the man blinking at him once before glancing away, though the ghost of a smile danced on his lips. He had seen everything he needed to in the younger man’s morose expression: looked like he wasn’t off the pitch after all. 

~~~~~~~~~~

  
  


“Mr. Lee just let me know I’m officially on the pitch team.”

Mingyu announced as he plopped down into the seat across from Seungkwan at the conference room table, watching as the younger man paused in furiously typing on his laptop to roll his eyes with a groan. 

“Did he tell you you could  _ speak  _ to me?”

He snapped, shooting a look across at the man over the top of his screen. Mingyu just sighed. 

“Look, can’t we talk about this? Why do you hate me so much, anyways? You were much nicer at the bar…”

He grumbled, and Seungkwan leaned back to cross his arms at that. 

“That’s because I was innocent and being preyed upon by a jerk! I won’t be falling for the same trick twice,  _ Kim Mingyu. _ ”

It was Mingyu’s turn to shoot a look across the table. 

“Somehow the way you say my name kind of pisses me off.”

He dragged a hand through his hair and rolled his eyes. 

“Anyways, I should be the one who’s mad at you, do you realize that?  _ You’re _ the one who-”

“Oh my god you’re so infuriating…”

Seungkwan hung his face in his hands, not even listening to the man anymore as he worked to compose himself. Working with Mingyu was going to be harder than the pitch itself, it seemed. 

“Look, can we just get to work?”

He groaned into his hands. 

“Great idea, Seungkwan, let’s work on the pitch and stop bickering about whatever you two are on about.”

Jihoon commented as he entered the conference room and pulled the door closed, crossing over to take a seat at the head of the table and pull his laptop open. 

“We’ve got a lot to get done. So to start, I’ve put together the framework of a slide deck…”

As their manager launched into pitch preparations Mingyu and Seungkwan were reduced to occasionally shooting looks at each other over the tops of their laptop screens and kicking each other under the table when Jihoon wasn’t looking. This was far from over. 

~~~~~~~~~~

  
  


By the time the three men slumped out of the conference room after going completely braindead and being forced to call it a night, the office was completely empty, and a glance at his watch told Seungkwan it was already nearly 7:00 pm. 

The youngest packed up his things at his desk in silence, paying no mind to the others, but when he rounded the corner he was surprised to see Mingyu holding the elevator for him. He eyed the man warily but stepped in, too tired to be petty and wait for the next one. 

“Jihoon?”

Mingyu asked, peering around what he could see of the office. Seungkwan simply shook his head and hit the ‘Door Close’ button. 

“He’ll be here for a while, still.”

On his way out Seungkwan had glanced in his manager’s office to see him still typing away at his computer in his white undershirt, his button down and tie completely as he worked into the night. 

Mingyu pursed his lips but shrugged, finger hovering over the basement button. 

“Garage?”

Seungkwan again shook his head, leaning over to hit the button for the lobby instead. 

“Nah I don’t drive, I walk.”

Mingyu peered over at him as the elevator sprung to life, carrying them down. 

“You  _ walk _ to work? By yourself?”

Seungkwan lifted an eyebrow over at the man, not quite sure what he was asking. 

“Yeah? It’s just a few blocks.”

As they stepped out of the elevator and crossed the lobby together, Mingyu gestured to the tall glass windows framing the bustling city outside. 

“But it’s already dark out! Maybe we shouldn’t have worked so late…”

Seungkwan simply shrugged, still eyeing his counterpart as he tried to figure out what his reaction was about. It wasn’t so strange to walk to work in the heart of the city, but Mingyu was from a different office more to the south on the outskirts of town, so perhaps it was a new concept to him. 

“Well, anyways…”

As the pair stepped out into the night together, Seungkwan turned in the direction of home and felt a little awkward, like he was probably supposed to say ‘goodnight’ to his coworker but not wanting to because it was  _ Kim Mingyu _ .

“Wait! I’ll walk you home.”

Mingyu grabbed Seungkwan by the elbow before he could disappear into the bustling sidewalk crowd, falling into step beside him. The younger man shrugged off his hand. 

“I’m fine, thanks.”

“Well my subway stop is in the same direction anyways, it’s no trouble.”

Mingyu scrubbed at the back of his neck and Seungkwan rolled his eyes, too tired to argue anymore about it. If he really wanted to make Mingyu walk on the other side of the street just so they weren’t walking together, he could’ve, he told himself. But it was late and he was tired and hungry and sick of arguing with this man. 

They fell into step together and trudged along in silence, the crowds beginning to dissipate around them as they worked their way out of the city center. After a few blocks, Mingyu pointed ahead. 

“Hey, there’s the bar where we met! You  _ do _ live close…”

Seungkwan scoffed and shoved his hand in his pocket as he eyed the bar they passed. 

“Ha! I wouldn’t say I  _ met  _ you there since you were being deceitful...”

Mingyu peered over at him. 

“Seungkwan, I really don’t get what your problem is with me. I wasn’t being deceitful at all that night, I really meant everything I said.”

Seungkwan had to look away from the sincerity in the man’s voice, and Mingyu smiled to himself at the small victory, adding, 

“I still think you’re really cute.”

“Shut up.”

Seungkwan snapped, but there wasn’t much bite to it. He shoved his hand deeper in his pocket, refusing to look over at the older man. He just didn’t want to hear it anymore, all his stupid bullshit. He was reminded of the way his chest had fluttered the first time Mingyu had called him cute, and he felt embarrassed. Ashamed, even. Like of  _ course _ it had been a big joke and he was just too stupid to see that. 

“I mean it!”

Mingyu chirped, and Seungkwan spun on him. 

“Shut up! The joke isn’t funny, Mingyu!”

His eyes were flaring with anger but his voice wobbled slightly and Mingyu frowned, putting his hands up like he meant no harm. 

“I’m not joking, Seungkwan, I swear.”

He reached out a hand but he wasn’t quite sure what to do with it. Seeing the hurt look in the man’s eyes gave him the urge to hug him but he knew Seungkwan would bite his head off if he tried, so he settled for a gentle pat on the shoulder. 

“I’m sorry, okay?”

He wasn’t sure what he was apologizing for but it seemed to be the only thing he could do to help Seungkwan who was looking like he might cry. The younger man peeked at Mingyu through his eyelashes, pulling his lips from a frown into a pout instead. 

_ Definitely cute _ , Mingyu thought. 

Finally seeming to recover, Seungkwan huffed and turned away. 

“Anyways…”

He pointed to the building they had stopped outside. 

“This is my building.”

Mingyu blinked, recovering from the - whatever they had just shared. 

“Oh, okay. Well, have a good night, then!”

He swung his briefcase over his shoulder and offered a wave with his free hand. Seungkwan eyed him. 

“Uh huh.”

He nibbled at his bottom lip. 

“Is it much further for you?”

Mingyu shook his head and pointed up the block. 

“Nah, my stop’s just up ahead, don’t worry.”

“I’m not.”

The younger countered, sticking his chin out as he pulled out his keys and opened the door to his building. 

But still - 

“Goodnight, Mingyu.”

He called over his shoulder before the door shut behind him, and Mingyu broke into a grin before starting off down the road, a newfound lightness in his step. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for all the positive reception so far, and I hope you'll stick around for the rest of the story!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is a little short so I decided to post it early. :) ladies and gentlemen (and all others too), they call them.... booseoksoon!

“So let me just see if I got this straight.”

Seokmin started, lips pursed in thought as he stood at the kitchen counter, chopping vegetables. Behind him the stove was sizzling away, and a pot of broth was just starting to come to a boil. 

“You’ve never been straight a day in your life, but go on.”

Seungkwan commented from his perch on the couch in the living room a few feet away, setting aside his phone he had been idly scrolling on. 

He was pretty useless in the kitchen, he knew that, but he liked to keep his roommate company while he did the cooking for the both of them. At this point it had become a pre-dinner tradition to sit around and gossip about their coworkers together. 

“So you meet a literal model in a bar, hit it off great, he calls you cute and sexy and buys you a drink, but you end up accidentally parting ways without exchanging numbers.”

He finished chopping and turned to sweep the contents of his cutting board into the broth before continuing over his shoulder, 

“But  _ then _ , it was  _ such destiny _ for you to be with this guy that he shows up at your job as your new deskmate,  _ and _ he’s been put on the pitch team and walking you home every evening so you spend all your time together.”

Seokmin clicked off the sizzling fry pan and turned back to face his friend. 

“Yet you’re denying your fate and refusing to hook up with him?”

Seungkwan shot his roommate a look. 

“You’ve got your facts all wrong, Seokmin. I was  _ preyed upon _ by a swindler in a bar and then had such bad luck that he became my deskmate, so I now am  _ forced _ to work with him every day, and he’s going to ruin the pitch so that I won’t get put up for promotion. He’s like a curse upon my life, not my ‘destiny’.”

Seokmin simply sighed as he watched his friend tick off the many reasons he hated Mingyu before offering him an exasperated smile, crossing over to plop down on the couch beside him and take the younger’s hands in his own. 

“Seungkwannie, I’m saying this because I love you a lot, but you kind of have this thing where you always sabotage your own love life, you know that, right?”

Seungkwan’s jaw dropped but before he could protest, there was a knock at the door. 

“I’ll get it!’

Seokmin hopped up and shuffled down the hall to answer the door.

“Aha, I knew I smelled something delicious!”

Soonyoung exclaimed, stepping into the entryway and beginning to toe off his shoes. 

“What’s for dinner, Seokmin??”

“Nothing for you, freeloader!”

Seungkwan called from the couch, but the eldest paid him no mind as he stepped into the living room and took a deep breath, eyes slipping closed. 

“Mmmm…”

“We’re having some beef bone broth, Soonyoung, do you want some?”

Seokmin chuckled as he slipped past his guest into the kitchenette to pull some bowls out from the cupboard. 

“You’re always so good to me, Minnie~”

Soonyoung simply singsonged in response, and Seungkwan huffed. 

“We should never have told you where we lived, you freeloader…”

“I would’ve sniffed you out eventually; it’s not that big a building, Kwannie~”

Soonyoung winked at him as he plopped down on the far side of the couch, stretching out an arm along the back and crossing his leg over his knee. Like he owned the place.

Yes, because Seungkwan’s life was a sitcom, his manager happened to live in the same apartment building as him and his roommate - who he also happened to work with. 

Well, not  _ his _ manager - that actually would’ve been better, because they’d have an actual reason not to fraternize outside work. But since Soonyoung wasn’t the head of the marketing department to which Seokmin and Seungkwan both belonged, there was no reason at all why he couldn’t drop by to eat and hang out and with them at least twice a week, and he certainly took advantage of that. 

“Soonyoung, we were just talking about how Seungkwan always sabotages his love life.”

Seokmin called over his shoulder as he served up their dinners, making his roommate scoff indignantly before Soonyoung turned to him with a serious expression and a nod. 

“Oh well, you  _ do _ do that, Seungkwan.”

“I do not! You two don’t know what you’re talking about!”

But the pair weren’t listening, gathering their evidence together as Seokmin came over to set down three bowls on the coffee table. 

“Yeah, remember that guy from the club? He was seriously so nice.”

“Uh huh, and that barista? I really was rooting for him.”

“The barista! Oh my god. We should find his instagram again, maybe he’s still single.”

They cracked up together as they kneeled on the rug in front of their food, and Seungkwan kicked at Soonyoung because he was the only one he could reach. 

“Shut up!!! Get out!”

Seokmin clapped his hands together in delight at the two battling men before him. 

“Okay okay, Seungkwan, we’ll stop, eat your dinner.”

He gestured to the third bowl and the youngest eyed them both with fiery eyes, grumbling under his breath as he joined them to kneel at the table. 

“Thank you for the meal…”

He muttered with a pout, still eyeing Soonyoung beside him as the man gobbled his food. 

“Anyways, usually your excuse is that you’re too busy with work, which is why I think this guy could actually be the perfect match for you, because you already work together! So he’ll be okay with your busy schedule.”

Seokmin continued between spoonfuls of his soup, as if he hadn’t just agreed to drop it. Soonyoung perked up. 

“Eh, you’re crushing on someone at work?”

“No!” “It’s Mingyu.”

The roommates spoke together, then locked eyes across the table - one expression innocent, one ready to fight - as Soonyoung set down his spoon to clap his hands together with a laugh. 

“Oh wow, I never would’ve expected that! Aren’t you guys always fighting??”

“Yeah, because I hate him!”

Seungkwan huffed, sticking his chin out stubbornly as he shoveled food in his mouth. 

“Is this not exactly what he said about the barista, though?”

Seokmin held up a hand as if to display Exhibit A and Soonyoung burst out laughing again, the youngest stretching out a leg to kick at his roommate under the table with a glare. 

“Seungkwannie…”

Seokmin smiled across at his roommate, reaching over to take his hand and squeeze it, which the youngest eyed with suspicion though he let their fingers entwine together. 

“I really think a little office romance could be perfect for you! You’ve been working so hard on this pitch, you  _ deserve _ some love and attention, and you’ve got this hunk that wants to give it to you! Don’t pass this opportunity up so hastily!”

Seungkwan sighed and frowned at his roommate’s sincere expression. 

“Yeah, Mingyu’s hot, Seungkwan.”

Soonyoung added with a mouthful of food, and the pair both turned to give him a look for ruining the moment. Not reading their expression, the eldest continued between bites, 

“But be careful about ‘letting off steam’ together at work, you’ll be in big trouble if Jihoon catches you. He caught me and Wonwoo making out in his office this week and I  _ still _ haven’t heard the end of it.”

The pair both looked appalled. 

“Why would you make out in  _ his _ office when you have your  _ own _ ?”

Seungkwan inquired, Soonyoung peering back at him like it was a stupid question. 

“Uh, because he has a  _ couch? _ ”

“I thought you and Wonwoo were just friends?”

Seokmin had his eyebrows pulled together, trying to do the math on all this new information. Soonyoung simply shrugged. 

“Yeah, I dunno.”

He offered vaguely, then leaned down to finish off the last few bites of his soup. Seungkwan rubbed at the bridge of his nose. 

“Okay this conversation has officially derailed. Anyways, thanks for the advice even though you’re both dicks.”

He scooped up the last of his soup and added, 

“I’m not gonna be declaring my love for Mingyu any time soon, so don’t hold your breath. Besides the fact that I hate him, we’re  _ way _ too busy with the pitch right now.”

Seokmin sighed, leaning his cheek in his hand on the table. 

“I wish I was on the pitch team with you guys. I bet you’re watching Jihoon strip right there in the conference room every night, aren’t you.”

Seungkwan mimicked his roommate, leaning his chin in his hand with a grin. 

“Mhm, and he’s been buying us lunch and dinner, too.”

Seokmin groaned, hanging his head in his hands as the tips of his ears went red. 

“A stripper  _ and _ a gentleman…”

“Are you kidding me Seokmin, you haven’t hooked up with that office gremlin yet?”

Soonyoung eyed him, but the man was too busy rubbing his hands over his face and sighing. 

“He’s not a  _ gremlin _ , he’s so sweet, and cute…”

Seungkwan laughed, watching his friend squirm. 

“Okay, sweet is going a little far but he  _ is  _ pretty cute.”

“Yeah, until he opens his mouth…”

Soonyoung grumbled, before shrugging. 

“One of these nights you should just wait around at the office till everyone leaves and then offer to suck him off, Seokmin. He’ll probably be half naked by then anyways.”

Seungkwan laughed at how red his roommate was turning before holding up a hand. 

“Nope, don’t listen to this bad influence, Jihoon’s your  _ direct manager!  _ He’d probably let you do it and then fire you for breaking the rules, Seokmin.”

Soonyoung giggled and clapped his hands together at the image, and it made Seungkwan laugh too because he was pretty sure he was right. Jihoon was a stickler for the rules in that way, but he tended to bend them for himself. Seokmin just groaned again, pouting across at the pair of them. 

“I need to transfer departments, I’m gonna die if I can’t have that man for myself soon.”

“But you’re his little marketing star, do you want to break his heart?”

Seungkwan pouted right back in a teasing tone, reaching over to pinch his roommate’s cheek. 

“Man, you two are hopeless. Why do you make everything so difficult? If you wanna make out with someone, just do it.”

Soonyoung shook his head at the pair, and Seungkwan lifted an eyebrow at him. 

“‘Just do it’?  _ That’s _ your advice? Soonyoung, I question every day how you became an account manager.”

Soonyoung just laughed, having heard that one before, and Seokmin sighed. 

“Can we just go back to getting Seungkwan with Mingyu?”

“Nope, this discussion’s over.”

Seungkwan stood, gathering up their empty bowls and crossing over to begin loading the dishwasher. 

“Office romances never work out, so it’s for the best if we just drop it. Now no more work talk! And Soonyoung, get out of my house!”

Seungkwan pointed a menacing spoon at the man before loading it in the dishwasher, and Soonyoung cracked up but crawled to his feet. 

“Okaaaay, but thanks for the dinner Seokmin. I promise we’ll get you and that gremlin together someday. That office couch was  _ made _ for making out on.”

He patted the man on the head with pity then dodged a dish towel thrown by Seungkwan with a giggle, shuffling down the hall and out the door a moment later. 

The youngest sighed as he finished loading and clicked the dishwasher on, then pulled the pots and pans off the stove and into the sink to begin soaking. He felt arms wrap around his middle from behind as he stood at the sink, and leaned his head back against the grinning cheek of his roommate with a soft smile of his own. 

“Seungkwannie, I know we tease a lot, but I want you to think about what I said.”

Seokmin’s tone was much more sincere as he spoke in his roommate’s ear. 

“I do think you deserve someone to give you love and attention, and I think Mingyu is a pretty good candidate. So just, before you write him off, think about it, okay?”

Seungkwan sighed, but he didn’t drop his soft smile. All the fight was melting out of him now that he was full of warm soup. 

“Alright, I get it Seokmin. Thank you.”

That night, after he completed his 5-step skin care routine, did his nightly stretches, wrote in his reflection journal, moisturized and changed into his matching satin pajamas before crawling into bed, Seungkwan laid awake in the dark and thought about Mingyu. 

He was a flirty jerk, and actually pretty good at design. That was all Seungkwan really knew about him, even after spending pretty much every minute at work with him the past week. Was there really any more he needed to know? He knew he hated him, so that seemed like enough. Or - well, he found him really annoying, at least. And frustrating. And a jerk!

And - maybe it wasn’t all his fault. This pitch meant everything to Seungkwan, and Mingyu was a variable outside of his control which made him a potential threat to presenting the perfect pitch, which made him Seungkwan’s enemy. It couldn’t be helped, Seokmin’s ‘fate’ theory be damned. 

But the fact of the matter was, he  _ had _ to hate Mingyu. There were a lot of voices in his head that urged him to, just as they had with the barista, and that guy at the club. There wasn’t any correlation to it, of course - it was just the way things were. 

With that settled, Seungkwan went straight to sleep, reassured he could confidently tell his roommate he had given Mingyu some thought. 

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope yall like your boogyu with a side of seokhoon and soonwoo


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> one time a guy i really hated (we were like rivals) brought me medicine the night before a big pitch we had to do together because he knew I was getting sick and it was the most enemies to lovers thing I'd ever experienced in my life (it didn't work out tho because he was a total dick) 
> 
> anyways this chapter is in mingyu's POV for some reason don't ask questions :)

A steaming travel mug suddenly plopped down on the desk in front of Mingyu, startling the man out of staring blankly at the spreadsheet on his screen. He blinked up in surprise to watch Seungkwan cross over to his own desk and set down his briefcase before beginning to unravel the scarf from around his neck and pull off his coat. 

“What’s this?”

The older man asked, picking up the cup and turning it curiously in his hands. 

“It’s for your throat. It’s sore, am I right?”

Seungkwan tilted his head over at the man, who could only stare back at him as he cleared his throat. 

“Uh well - yeah…”

Seungkwan sighed, returning his attention to booting up his computer. 

“If you’re not more careful you’ll catch a cold, dummy. This weather is going to last the rest of the week, you know.”

Mingyu frowned over at his deskmate, then down at the drink in his hands. Every day that he thought he had his touchy coworker figured out, the man did something newly baffling. 

What kind of person was Seungkwan? The kind to make a special drink just for you because he’d noticed you weren’t feeling well,  _ carry  _ that drink all the way across town to you, only to drop it on your desk and call you a dummy. 

“Aww, isn’t that cute~?”

Jeonghan cooed from his desk on the end of the row, shaking Mingyu out of his thoughts. 

“But Seungkwan, why didn’t you bring enough for  _ all _ of us?”

Joshua pulled up in his rolling chair beside Jeonghan, and the pair nodded together with a pout aimed at Seungkwan. 

“Uh huh, next time I’ll be sure to lug a  _ gallon _ of tea across town for the whole office.”

The youngest retorted with an eye roll. Mingyu clicked open the cap and took a tentative sip before twisting his face up in a pucker that cracked up half the office. 

“It’s - bitter…”

He choked out, looking to Seungkwan for answers, but he simply frowned back at him. 

“Sorry, did I  _ say _ it would taste good? It’s good for your  _ throat! _ ”

“Don’t worry, I’m sure it’s not poison or anything.”

Chan laughed, pulling up beside Mingyu to take a whiff of the tea in his hand before making a face and cracking up again. 

“The only thing Seungkwan likes more than being a hater is being a  _ nag, _ in case you haven’t figured that out yet.”

Seungkwan huffed, standing to dig in his briefcase a moment before finding what he was looking for and pelting it directly at the man. 

“This is for  _ you, _ Chan, you’re  _ welcome _ .”

Mingyu lifted an eyebrow down at the vitamin pack that fell to the floor as beside him, Chan sputtered and clutched at the impact zone on his middle. Seungkwan stomped past them both to pelt vitamin packs at the rest of his office bullies, Joshua and Jeonghan catching theirs easily and cooing a thank you after the man just before he slammed the door to the conference room behind him. 

Mingyu stared at the closed conference room door and sipped at his tea in thought, lips puckering at the bitter, lemony taste. So this was how Seungkwan treated his friends. Did that make him a friend? 

“What’s that guy’s  _ deal _ ?”

He spoke out loud. 

“He’s just like that.”

A voice came from behind, and Mingyu spun his chair around in surprise to find that Minghao from the PR department had appeared. The man offered a polite smile and held out a document. 

“Here’s the updated competitor analysis.”

Mingyu took the paper with a smile. He and Minghao had made fast friends since he’d started at this new office, once the man had caught Mingyu taking photos outside their office building on lunch break during his first week there. 

To Mingyu, working in the city center was new and charming; the design department’s previous location was out in the suburbs and not  _ nearly  _ as interesting. As it turned out, Minghao was somewhat new to the area too and an artist in his free time, and they had started taking their lunches together to explore the city and photograph anything that caught their eye. 

“Plus I think he  _ likes _ you~...”

Jeonghan called from a few desks away, giggling when Joshua beside him batted at his arm. 

“You can’t just  _ announce _ stuff like that Hannie, even if it’s true…”

Mingyu and Minghao both frowned over at the pair before Seungcheol called from his office, the door having been left open, 

“Hey you two, do I hear you goofing off out there? I moved your desk for a  _ reason, _ Jeonghan!”

“Yeah, for a better view of my  _ ass _ from your office…”

Jeonghan muttered under his breath with a glittering look in his eyes that made Joshua giggle as he wheeled past the man on his way back to his desk. 

“ _ Stop, _ you’re so bad…”

Mingyu turned back to Minghao with a lifted eyebrow, but the man simply shrugged. Talk about being  _ just like that. _

Mingyu had never experienced such a bustling office in his life, and he wasn’t sure if it was the  _ amount  _ of people or the  _ kinds _ of people that made it as chaotic as it was. But he was sure that he  _ loved  _ it. Lately he’d been waking up every day excited to go to work, and it wasn’t just because he was on the pitch team with Seungkwan and Jihoon - thought that definitely helped. 

“Hey, Mingyu!”

The man turned just in time to catch a paper airplane that had been directed his way, looking around in bewilderment before spotting a lanky man waving at him from across the office with a big grin. Junhui. Mingyu dropped his gaze down to the paper plane in his hands, unfolding it to reveal another spreadsheet. 

“It’s the contact report you needed!”

Jun called, and Mingyu couldn’t help but chuckle in bewilderment. 

“So what’s  _ his _ deal?”

He inquired of Minghao, but the man simply sighed in exasperation. 

“I wish I knew...”

The man turned away to head back over to his department’s grouping of desks, where Soonyoung had just appeared and was clapping his hands loudly. 

“Yes, Junhui, _ love _ that creativity! Thinking outside the box! PR department  _ rules _ !!”

“ _ Someone _ had their coffee this morning…”

  
Seokmin giggled as he emerged from Jihoon’s office and took in the scene, the manager following close behind him to lean in his office doorway and snap, 

“Cut it  _ out _ Soonyoung, you’re too loud!”

“Kim Mingyu!”

Another voice suddenly snapped and the man jumped before turning to see Seungkwan poking his head out of the conference room and glaring at him from across the room. 

“Are you  _ coming _ , or what!”

“Yup!”

Mingyu sprung into action, finally realizing it was time to get back to work on the pitch, and carefully juggling his laptop and tea in his arms as he hurried to join his coworker in the conference room. Just before he could duck in, Seungcheol finally appeared in his office doorway, taking in the chaotic morning the office had descended into. 

“Why is everyone  _ yelling  _ this morning! Cut it out and get back to work!”

He planted a hand on his hip for emphasis, but it didn’t seem to deter Jeonghan and Joshua, who were giggling together again. 

“But aren’t  _ you _ yelling~?”

The retort made Mingyu giggle too as he disappeared safely into the conference room before having to face the wrath of their office head. Yeah, he definitely loved working here. 

~~~~~~~~~~

  
  


The feeling of Seungkwan’s fingertips brushing against his skin still burned Mingyu’s cheeks now as they trudged through the cold together. 

_ Don’t tie your scarf like that, it’s useless that way! _

The younger man had scolded him once he was done packing up his things to leave. 

Nowadays, they waited for each other at the end of the day since they walked home together. It wasn’t something they had necessarily discussed; Mingyu had learned by now that Seungkwan’s actions rarely aligned with his words, and the actions were the more important of the two. 

_ It’s better to be warm than fashionable, Mingyu. _

He had  _ tsk _ -ed before stomping over to adjust the scarf himself, tucking it into Mingyu’s coat collar as the man simply watched, a little dumbfounded. 

Every single word Seungkwan spoke was impeccably annunciated like it was a line he was delivering on a stage, and it fascinated Mingyu more than the heat behind them could ever sting him. He didn’t hear fire; he felt warmth, as slender fingers brushed his cashmere scarf up over his cheeks. He felt warmth in the pit of his stomach too as he stared at that pout, so close to him now, he could just close the space between them and -

But that pout was hidden away now, behind Seungkwan’s own scarf as they marched along in the cold through the night. Mingyu peeked over at the man out of the corner of his eye, wanting to break the silence, but not sure what to say. 

Seungkwan was staring at a point somewhere between the road ahead and his feet as they trudged along on the concrete, and his expression was about a million miles away. He went to that place any moment he had to himself, Mingyu had noticed. Far, far away. When Seungkwan got that look, he couldn’t help but want to drag him back - like if he didn’t, the man would drift out of reach. 

“Seungkwan.”

The man shook his head, returning from afar, and blinked big dark eyes up at him questioningly. It made Mingyu want to - well, what exactly? 

For the record, as he was often reminded of throughout the day, besides really cute, Mingyu also found Seungkwan really frustrating, and annoying. But also witty and bright. Actually, he’d never met anyone quite like Seungkwan, and he’d felt that way just from the encounter they’d had in the bar those few weeks ago - long before they spent all their time together, working on the pitch. 

All he wanted to do was pinch Seungkwan until he whined, or maybe squeeze him in his arms until he tried to squirm free. Nibble on his bottom lip until he complained. Or maybe sink his teeth into his shoulder. 

_ Gentle touch!  _

He often heard a voice that was his mother’s reminding him, or maybe scolding him, whenever he looked too long at Seungkwan. It was what she would say when he would get too rough with his baby sister, tossing bouncy balls to a baby that couldn’t even lift it’s head yet because he just wanted to play with her so badly. 

_ Gentle touch. _

He reminded himself now, as he wrapped his fingers around Seungkwan’s slender arm, so soft and malleable beneath his hand. For all the fight he put up, the man just seemed so  _ soft _ , like a peach at its most ripe. As much as Mingyu wanted to close his fist around it and watch the warm juice squeeze out, he also wanted to cradle it in his hands, keeping the soft skin safe from bruising. 

“Let’s stop in for a drink!”

He pointed up ahead, pulling Seungkwan over to the corner of the sidewalk to wait for the crosswalk. The younger man frowned, eyeing the bar Mingyu was pointing at across the road. 

“Are you kidding? It’s late, Mingyu. And cold.”

“Perfect time for a drink to warm you up!”

He countered, dragging the man by the arm across the street and towards the bar. 

“We can get hot toddies!”

He added with a laugh, because he wasn’t sure he had ever actually ordered that in a bar before. When he reached the door to the place he turned back to Seungkwan, pouting his lips cutely. 

“For my  _ throat _ .”

He added, and Seungkwan rolled his eyes but followed him inside. 

“Plus, I owe you.”

Mingyu added as they sunk into their barstools together, Seungkwan leaning his elbow on the bar as he faced him. 

“This round is  _ actually _ on me, this time.”

“Uh huh.”

Seungkwan retorted, sounding unconvinced. 

“And, I want to thank you for bringing me that tea today. It  _ really _ helped, my throat actually doesn’t even hurt anymore.”

Mingyu was really laying it on, and Seungkwan turned away to stir at the ice water the bartender had brought him.

“Yeah, well… it’s just because I don’t want you getting sick for the pitch. That’d be a pain…”

He grumbled, but Mingyu just smiled at the man’s profile as he poked his straw at his ice. 

What kind of person was Seungkwan? The kind who could be so complimentary, so kind, giving credit where credit was due even if you were alleged sworn enemies - he’d praised Mingyu’s pitch designs plenty of times, in between kicking him under the table - yet someone who couldn’t handle that same kindness directed his way, unable to look directly at it,  _ needing _ to shoot it down with a bitter comment. But Mingyu was undeterred: in fact, it was his favorite game. Maybe Seungkwan just needed the practice; maybe he didn’t receive enough kindness. 

“Yeah, it probably would.”

He allowed, nodding to the bartender with a smile as he set down the hot toddies in front of them. When they saw the drinks, they couldn’t help but crack up laughing. 

“I can’t believe you ordered this. Isn’t it, like, straight whiskey?”

Seungkwan giggled, lifting the drink to his nose to sniff. Mingyu took a sip of his own and made a face. 

“ _ Yup. _ ”

He choked, making Seungkwan crack up again. 

“You know, I think it’s a total myth that these are good for your throat.”

Seungkwan commented, before taking a sip and puckering at the bitterness. Mingyu tasted it again with a thoughtful expression. 

“It’s really warming, though. I think it would be weirdly good with breakfast?”

Seungkwan shook his head with a chuckle, stirring his drink and staring at the lemon wedge dancing around the glass. 

“Yeah, we can come here for drinks in the morning before the pitch to calm our nerves.”

It didn’t sound as joking as he probably meant it to, and Mingyu tilted his head to the side as he peered at his coworker. 

“Is this your first time, Seungkwan?”

“Huh??”

He was flustered, blinking over at Mingyu with wide eyes before glancing away again with a nervous laugh. 

“Oh the  _ pitch? _ ”

He shifted in his barstool, taking a quick swig of his drink before nodding. 

“Yeah, of course it is. I was barely allowed on  _ this _ one, since I’m junior staff.”

“That’s right, I always forget you’re not a senior account exec yet.”

Mingyu slapped his knee as he remembered, then leaned his chin in his hand.

“Honestly Seungkwan, you’re pretty amazing. I never could’ve done this at your level; I’m pretty sure I can’t even do it now.”

Seungkwan was staring pointedly down at his drink again, practically wincing at the compliment. 

“Well don’t say  _ that _ because you’re on my pitch team now, you  _ have _ to do it.”

He huffed, finally peeking over at Mingyu.  _ Wait, there’s more. _ Mingyu could see it in his eyes, and held his tongue. When Seungkwan was thinking about something, it was written all over his face. 

“Did you know if I do well on this, I’ll be up for a promotion?”

Seungkwan finally added. Mingyu blinked in surprise. 

“No, I didn’t.”

He broke into an uneasy grin. 

“ _ God, _ as if there wasn’t pressure enough on this.”

Seungkwan pouted. 

“I  _ know, _ right?”

He reached out and smacked Mingyu on the arm. 

“That’s why I hate you for coming in at the last minute on this! And I’ll  _ kill _ you if it doesn’t work out!”   
  


Mingyu just laughed. 

“Well I know  _ that _ , you’ve told me plenty of times...”

“Good!”

Seungkwan huffed, then gulped at his drink. Mingyu chuckled, but matched his pace. 

“In a rush?”

He inquired, shivering at the tingling sensation that ran through his body after downing half his drink. Those pink lips were pouting again. 

“ _ Well _ if we take too long here, I’ll have to use the restroom. But I don’t want to do that because you’ll disappear again and I’ll have to foot the bill.”

He explained, shooting Mingyu a menacing look. The older man turned to face him a little better and leaned close. 

“Can we finally talk about this? What happened that night! Why did you ditch me!”

“Why did  _ I _ ditch  _ you? _ ”

Seungkwan sputtered with an incredulous look. Mingyu looked just as surprised. 

“Yeah! You went to the bathroom, and while I was waiting for you I got a phone call, so I stepped out for a minute and when I came back, you were gone! And the bartender told me you’d closed our tab. Which was pretty classy of you, I guess. I just couldn’t figure out what had changed your mind, because I thought we really hit it off…”

Seungkwan stared over at him, dumbfounded, as Mingyu trailed off with a confused pout.

“You… took a phone call?”

He dragged a hand through his hair, still surprised, and a little dismayed. 

“It’s just - when I came back from the bathroom you were gone, and when I asked the bartender, he said he saw you leave. So I thought… you left.”

Mingyu sighed, but it turned into an exasperated chuckle as he dragged a hand through his hair. 

“Well, I can kinda see why you hated me, then. But no, I didn’t ditch you, Seungkwan. Like I said, I was enjoying myself, and I got the impression you were, too.”

Seungkwan was staring down at his drink, looking dangerously close to going  _ far, far away. _

“Well…”

He frowned a moment, gulped - but then it was all gone, hidden away behind a huff and a pout directed at Mingyu. 

“Well you’re still an asshole for taking a phone call in the middle of a date!”

Mingyu blinked.

“Well what if it was an emergency! And  _ you  _ never admitted it was a date, so…”

“Yeah, because it wasn’t.”

Seungkwan concluded, stubborn to the point of contradicting himself. 

“Because I don’t date jerks.”

He added with a menacing look before downing the rest of his drink and hopping to his feet. 

“Come on, let’s get out of here.”

Mingyu rolled his eyes but finished off his drink and closed out the tab quickly for Seungkwan, who was tapping his foot by the door. Well, at least he’d finally gotten the truth of what happened that night out of Seungkwan, so this stop had been worth it.

Actually, it was pretty frustrating. Mingyu didn’t like the idea of  _ anyone _ out there not liking him, so this situation with Seungkwan had been driving him crazy for weeks now. Just to find out it was all a misunderstanding because some bartender threw him under the bus? And now Seungkwan was going to think he was a jerk forever now? 

But no, not forever. He’d find a way to put that stupid misunderstanding behind him, and he didn’t have to look far. The pitch was in a week, and it was going to be his ticket to Seungkwan’s good graces. If he helped the man get put up for promotion, he’d forget all about that night in the bar for sure. Or better yet - maybe they could finally pick up where they’d left off. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> did anyone else's mom have to teach them 'gentle touch' or was I just really bad about accidentally beating up my little siblings


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this chapter first so I already had it ready to go, but don't get too used to these rapid updates!

Seungkwan was having trouble concentrating.

“Ugh, I can’t believe how hot it is today.”

“This weather has been really all over the place, hasn’t it?”

The dynamic - demonic - duo were wheeling closer and closer to him as they spoke. 

“Seungkwan,  _ you _ have a hot-and-cold personality, do you  _ like _ weather like this?”

Jeonghan inquired with an innocent expression, as Joshua tutted beside him,

“Oh, look at how he’s frowning. Honey, you shouldn’t frown like that or you’ll get winkles, you know.”

Finally Seungkwan looked up from his laptop to shoot the pair a look, but Joshua simply offered a sweet smile.

“Don’t worry, Kwannie, just stop frowning and you won’t wrinkle. Look -”

He scooted forward to brush a finger between Seungkwan’s eyebrows now that the man had stopped frowning down at his work, then pursed his lips in thought.

“Well, they’re hardly noticeable now anyways.”

Seungkwan batted the man’s hand away with a huff and stood, collecting his laptop as Jeonghan giggled from where he sat fanning himself. 

There was an unusual heat wave in the city today and with the office’s air conditioning not working, its occupants had been melting at their desks all day as they tried to get their work done. Some were more successful than others. 

But it wasn’t the devil twins that were disrupting Seungkwan’s concentration. He had actually come out to his desk to try and focus  _ better _ , though it seemed like it was now time to try and brave the conference room again. 

When he stepped into the room and closed the door behind him, Seungkwan was distressed to find that Mingyu was even less clothed than he had been when he’d left. The man had discarded his suit jacket and tie completely, then rolled the sleeves of his white shirt up to his elbows and unbuttoned the entire top half of its buttons to reveal tanned skin and no undershirt-

“Kim Mingyu you’re  _ indecent _ .” 

Seungkwan snapped as he crossed over to take a seat at the table. His coworker looked up from the document he was reviewing to frown back at him. 

“Seungkwan it’s sweltering, you should loosen up, too.”

The younger gulped and adjusted his slightly loosened tie with poise. 

“I’ve  _ acclimated. _ ”

He retorted, though the glisten of his forehead seemed to say otherwise. Mingyu just rolled his eyes, not about to have this argument for the third time that day, instead standing and crossing over to the man. 

“Well anyways, you should take a look at this analysis. I’ve been thinking, we could build it into…”

Seungkwan stiffened, trying to focus on the words coming out of Mingyu’s mouth and not the fact that the man had leaned down over him with a hand on his shoulder as he spoke, faces only inches apart, bare chest peeking through his unbuttoned shirt and pressed right up against him… The younger could feel heat rising into his cheeks that had nothing to do with the broken thermostat. 

It brought him back to his original thoughts on Mingyu, before being ditched with the tab, long before working with him on this pitch, back when he was just a man in a bar offering to buy him a drink: he was  _ hot _ . Like really, really sexy. Tall, dark, and handsome was a phrase invented for Kim Mingyu. 

Seungkwan had spent so much time directing his wrath at this man he’d almost forgotten. 

“Am I interrupting?”

Jihoon entered and lifted an eyebrow at the two as he closed the door behind him. 

“Nope, we were just going over the competitor analysis.”

Mingyu answered easily and straightened to head back over to his seat, Seungkwan peeking between the two of them and wondering if they could tell he was blushing. When he caught sight of his manager though, he balked. 

“Jihoon are those  _ slides? _ ”

The manager didn’t look up from setting up his laptop at the head of the table. 

“It’s a million degrees in here, Seungkwan, what do you want from me.”

The man had already stripped down to his undershirt, left in just a white tee, black dress pants, and  _ yes, _ slides. The youngest dropped his head into his hands, elbows leaned on the conference room table. 

“I think I’m getting a migraine…”

“You’re probably just dehydrated! You should drink more water.”

Mingyu offered helpfully, to which Seungkwan lifted his eyes to shoot the man a glare across the table. 

“Thanks Mingyu, I wasn’t aware of  _ water. _ ”

While the two descended into bickering, there was a tap at the door and Jihoon turned just in time to see Seokmin enter with a wide smile. 

“Jihoon, these were on the printer, I think they’re yours?”

He offered out a handful of papers, which Jihoon took with a smile and an appreciative pat to his arm. 

“Oh thanks, Seokmin.”

The younger man beamed, and definitely did not check out his half-undressed manager even a little bit. 

“That’s privileged information, Seokmin, we’ll have to kill you now.”

Seungkwan paused in antagonizing Mingyu to antagonize his roommate instead, receiving a bewildered look from Seokmin and an amused chuckle from their manager. 

“I’m not a spy for Togokon!”

Seokmin exclaimed with a pout, apparently offended by the accusation, which only cracked up their manager even more. 

“Good, ‘cause if you  _ were _ we’d have to  _ kill you! _ ”

Jihoon teased, overzealous on getting in on the joke, jokingly reaching like he was going to strangle Seokmin, who pouted at him but froze on the spot, clearly torn between wanting to whine about the joke and  _ definitely _ wanting to be choked by Jihoon. 

The manager dropped his hands with an unsure giggle at the lack of response, and then cleared his throat, gesturing towards the door. 

“Well anyways, thanks for this, Seokmin.”

Seungkwan rolled his eyes as he watched his roommate giggle nervously and nod rapidly before scuttling away, deciding he would just  _ have _ to roast him for this later. But for now it was back to work, as Jihoon turned back to his laptop to pull up their presentation on the display screen behind him. 

“Alright, should we run it through from the top?”

  
  


~~~~~~~~~~

  
  


“It’s finally cooled down a bit.”

Mingyu commented as he walked along with Seungkwan later that evening, holding his briefcase over his shoulder as he peered up at the twilight sky that was just beginning to descend from a deep, vibrant blue to black. 

“Thank god…”

Seungkwan sighed, adjusting the knot of his loosened tie and reveling in the cool breeze on his skin. The pair fell quiet again, never having much to say on these walks after a long day of  _ pitch, pitch, pitch _ . It was right around the corner at this point, and difficult to think of anything else.

“So… Got anything planned this evening?”

Mingyu scrubbed the back of his neck as he asked it and Seungkwan peered at the man out of the corner of his eye before turning his attention back to the quickly approaching front door of his apartment building lobby. 

The question seemed so pathetic it was a little endearing: Seungkwan could tell Mingyu didn’t want to part ways yet and was stalling. But he simply shrugged. 

“Not really. Just eat dinner and walk the dog I guess.”

He came to a stop outside his door and turned to face Mingyu just in time to see the older man’s face light up. 

“You have a  _ dog?! _ Can I come see her??”

He spit out the question without thinking but the flash of  _ something _ in Seungkwan’s eyes was enough to make Mingyu backtrack, bringing his hands up in defense. 

“Uh, I mean-”

“He’s a  _ he _ and his name is Bookkeu.”

Seungkwan huffed, turning with his nose in the air to unlock the door and hold it open. 

“And fine.”

“R-really?”

Mingyu was flabbergasted. Ever since he’d started walking the man home every day he’d been brainstorming about a million ways to get invited up to Seungkwan’s place, but straight up asking had  _ not  _ seemed like the winning plan. 

He tried to search the younger man’s face for any hint that he was joking and about to slam the door closed on his foot or something but Seungkwan seemed to be looking everywhere but at him. So he simply gulped and stepped inside. 

Mingyu followed Seungkwan onto an elevator up to the tenth floor, then down a lengthy hallway. They paused outside a door on the end while Seungkwan shuffled through his keys and unlocked the place, then stepped into the entryway of his apartment. 

A fluffy little white dog scampered over as they toed off their shoes and Seungkwan crouched down to pepper him with kisses as he cooed, 

“Helloooo my little man, how are you~? Did you have a good day~? Did you miss me~? I missed you baby~”

Mingyu watched the complete transformation of his crabby coworker into doting fur daddy with fascination, a grin spreading across his face. 

“Shut up.”

Seungkwan snapped at him as soon as he saw the expression, then scooped up the little fluffy dog into his arms to hold him up to Mingyu’s face. 

“This is my angel Bookkeu, say hello.”

Mingyu lit up like it was Christmas, instantly joining in the doting. 

“Hi Bookkeu I’m Mingyu, you’re just the cutest, aren’t you?”

The older man puckered his lips at the little dog, blowing him air kisses and scratching gently at the top of his head, and Seungkwan nodded his approval. He watched his coworker cuddle his puppy until he realized he was staring and hastily turned away to gently set the dog back on the floor, watching him scurry away into the apartment. 

Mingyu followed Seungkwan out of the entryway and into the living room, which opened into a quant kitchenette. A familiar face turned to greet the pair from his spot at the stove. 

“Hellooooo~! Oh - well, hello!”

Seokmin singsonged a greeting for his roommate but paused when he spotted their unexpected guest before quickly recovering to offer Mingyu a smile. 

“Mingyu, you know Seokmin.”

Seungkwan offered by way of introductions, cringing already. This was a mistake, he shouldn’t have invited Mingyu up to their place. Now they were doing  _ introductions _ and he was a  _ guest  _ and he’d watched him kiss his  _ puppy _ \- it was turning into  _ something _ . It wasn’t  _ nothing _ , like he’d tried to tell himself it was. 

“Oh hi, I uh - didn’t realize you two were roommates!”

Mingyu offered a casual smile and a little wave to his coworker, before sending Seungkwan a curious expression that asked what he was thinking without needing to say it. 

“Seokmin and I don’t usually leave work at the same time, that’s why I walk by myself.” 

The younger man answered, and Seokmin clapped his hands together suddenly. 

“Oh right, I should say thank you for walking Seungkwan home lately! You see, I’m working on a musical right now and I have rehearsals after work.”

Seungkwan shot his roommate a murderous expression. Thanking Mingyu for walking him home, what was he, his dad? 

“You’re in a musical? That’s really cool!”

Mingyu lit up, and Seokmin lit up, and Seungkwan rolled his eyes.

“Oh it’s nothing really, it’s just a local production. It’s a lot of fun though.”

Seokmin waved a hand, putting on an air of casual though he was clearly thrilled to have been called cool. The stove sizzled behind him and he quickly turned back to stir at whatever was in the pan before calling over his shoulder, 

“Anyways, dinner’s almost ready. Oh-”

He turned back to the pair with wide eyes. 

“Mingyu, will you be staying for dinner?”

“No.” “Yes!” 

Seungkwan and Mingyu answered at once before turning to glare at each other. Seokmin seemed to get the idea and nodded once before turning back to the stove. 

“Okay, I’ll serve some up for you, too.”

Seungkwan sighed, dragging a hand through his hair. This evening had really gotten away from him, he thought. Somehow Mingyu had weaseled his way up to his apartment and invited himself over for dinner. Didn’t they spend enough time together at work already? 

“Have a seat.”

He gestured to the couch and Mingyu obliged, seeming to know he had won and it was best if he kept his mouth shut for now. Bookkeu took the opportunity to hop up in the man’s lap, cuddling up to him as he giggled in delight and pet his fluffy head. 

Seungkwan watched the display with a frown before crossing over to the fridge. He pulled it open and leaned down to peer around inside before finally finding what he was looking for, reaching in to pull out a few bottles. 

“You want a soju?”

He called, and both Seokmin and Mingyu cheered in response. Good, because Seungkwan was going to need a drink.

  
  


~~~~~~~~~~

  
  


It got late somewhere between Soonyoung showing up, the four of them sharing a meal and a handful of soju bottles, Seokmin trying to fight his roommate for - as he put it - “setting him up to get choked by Jihoon and consequently almost popping a boner in the middle of the office”, and the heated debate of who they thought their boss Seungcheol was hooking up with that resulted in jars filled with actual money and labels that read ‘Jeonghan’ and ‘Joshua’ respectively. 

“Quit it!”

Mingyu giggled, nudging at Seungkwan who was leaning on his arm as they rode the elevator down, the younger man giggling and nudging him right back. 

“I’m so tired I’m gonna die, I shouldn’t have agreed to walk you out…”

He whined with a yawn. Mingyu grinned down at him with glittering eyes. 

“You’re drunk.”

He asserted, unable to hold back another giggle as the doors opened onto the lobby. 

“You are  _ too _ …”

Seungkwan retorted with a pout and a giggle, keeping a hand wrapped around the man’s arm as they crossed the lobby shakily together. 

“When’s the last train, are you going to make it?”

He added with more concern, frowning up at Mingyu in a way that made his stomach do somersaults. 

“It’s at 10:30, I’ll make it.”

He reassured, pushing through the lobby doors and out into the night, Seungkwan still attached to his side as the man held up his wrist to check his watch. 

“You’ll have to hurry then!”

He exclaimed, it being even later than he expected. He panted a hand on each of Mingyu’s shoulders and pursed his lips up at the man, again fixing him with a look of  _ care _ that the man had yet to see from him. 

“If you miss your train just come back here, okay?”

“Why?”

Mingyu gulped, staring down at pouting pink lips and not caring if the owner noticed. 

“Well we can figure something out together, maybe you can stay here…”

“Then I missed my train.”

Mingyu breathed, barely getting the words out before his lips were against Seungkwan’s own, pulling the man against him as he kissed him deeply. There wasn’t any way he was going to let him get away with saying something like that so easily - like he wasn’t pushing Mingyu away, like maybe he  _ wanted _ him to stay.

Seungkwan’s eyes went wide as Mingyu kissed him, bracing a hand to the back of his head and digging into brown curls like it was the only thing holding him on his feet. He tilted his chin up into the kiss, returning his coworker’s sloppy intensity, stomach filling with butterflies at the hand pressed to the small of his back before dragging his own hand down from Mingyu’s hair to press against his chest and -

“No, nope, no way.”

Mingyu blinked at him in surprise as Seungkwan pulled away from the kiss, keeping a firm hand against his chest to maintain the distance between them while waving the other for emphasis. 

“We’re not gonna do this, no way. We’re both drunk, and you should go catch your train.”

“Seungkwan-”

“Nope, I don’t wanna hear it! You’re a sly dog, Kim Mingyu!”

Seungkwan shook his head with a stubborn pout, before cracking his eyes open to offer the man a sweet little grin as if to let him know he wasn’t actually mad. It just made Mingyu want to close the space between them again, capture that pouty lip between his teeth and - 

But instead he huffed out a bittersweet laugh, dropping his gaze down to his feet and collecting the briefcase he’d dropped somewhere in his haste before lifting his eyes again to offer the younger man a smile. 

“Have a good night, Seungkwan.”

Mingyu almost flinched back instinctively when the man reached out a hand towards him, but he simply gave an affectionate pat to his cheek as he peered up at him with that hazy grin. 

“ _ Go, _ or you’re seriously going to miss it.”

Seungkwan urged, voice softer than Mingyu thought he was even capable of doing. He turned away with a sigh, because he felt like he already  _ was _ missing it - and  _ it  _ wasn’t the train. 

He jogged off down the block, checking his watch again as he went, and as he turned the corner he saw Seungkwan still waving from where he was planted in front of his building. 

“Text me when you make it!”

He called after Mingyu just before he disappeared out of sight, and it made the older man’s stomach do summersaults all over again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey they did the thing 😚😚😚 leave a like or comment if you squealed lol


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today's the big day!

Today’s the big day. 

That’s what Seungkwan had repeated silently to himself approximately four thousand times that morning as he did his morning stretches, ate a nutritious breakfast, pulled on his favorite suit - freshly pressed, of course - and practically skipped out the door to walk to work twenty minutes  _ early _ instead of late (as usual). 

“Today’s the big day, huh?”

His roommate had reminded him with a big smile as they walked along in the fresh morning dew together, as if Seungkwan had forgotten about it for even a second. 

No, he definitely couldn’t ignore the  _ anticipation _ beginning to churn in the pit of his stomach, the  _ promotion jitters _ buzzing just beneath his skin like no coffee ever could. 

It wasn’t a big deal, he tried to remind himself. 

They’d practiced the presentation approximately three million times, and he knew the material by heart. Today’s runthrough would be like any other, except better, because it would be the last one. So  _ yeah _ , it better be a  _ really good _ last run. Like, his promotion depended on it. But other than  _ that,  _ there was nothing to worry about. 

Not even...

“Today’s the big day, Seungkwan!”

A familiar voice cheered from behind the younger man as if on cue and Seungkwan hopped to his feet with a beaming smile, grabbing the cardboard cup holder from his desk and turning on his heel to greet his coworker. 

“Sure is, and I got us both iced amer-”

But Mingyu had been a lot closer than he could have anticipated, the older man looking just as surprised as the cup holder collided with his chest, causing two giant plastic cups of iced coffee to crash and explode all over them both. 

Seungkwan gasped and stepped back, looking down in utter shock at his front, which was now entirely soaked and stained brown; Mingyu mirrored the expression as he stared down at his own soiled suit. 

The office around them had fallen pin-drop silent; the only sound in the entire place was faint dripping. 

When Seungkwan lifted his gaze he realized that everyone was staring back at them in various stages of shock and horror. His stomach suddenly lurched, and he pressed a hand over his mouth in dismay. 

“What are we going to do?”

Was the only thing he could choke out. 

Jeonghan appeared beside him and began dabbing paper towels on his front, working silently at the task as if it was even possible to fix at this point. Seungkwan blinked down at his colleague trying to clean him up and then over at Mingyu, who was getting a similar pat down from Joshua, though it was equally as ineffective. 

When Mingyu locked eyes with him all Seungkwan could do was shake his head, completely at a loss for words. This was  _ not  _ in the plan. This was not something he was prepared to handle on the  _ big day _ , and he had prepared  _ so much _ . 

Moisture welled up in Seungkwan’s eyes before he could stop it. Mingyu reached out a hand to gently wrap around his wrist, trying to catch his eye, bring him back down to earth. 

“It’ll be okay.”

He said it urgently, trying to get out ahead of the meltdown clearly about to wash over his coworker, but Seungkwan just ripped his hand away and turned on his heel, rushing past Jeonghan and Joshua and anyone else who was standing and gawking at him to dive into the elevator. 

“Seungkwan, wait!”

Mingyu rushed after him, catching a hand on the elevator door before it closed and stepping inside, Seungkwan refusing to look at him as he mashed the ‘Door Close’ button. Across the room, Jihoon emerged from his office and caught their eye with a bewildered expression. 

“Guys, what the hell! The pitch is in-”

“We’ll be right back!”

Mingyu called back just before the elevator doors clamped closed. He turned to his coworker with a frown. 

“Seungkwan, where are you going?”

“I don’t  _ know, _ okay! I just - I need to get  _ out of here _ -”

The younger man was panicking, switching now to mashing on the button for the lobby, and Mingyu reached out a hand in dismay. 

“Stop that or it might-”

There was a loud metallic  _ clang! _ and the elevator lurched to a stop, the wall of buttons flashing once before going dark. Seungkwan jumped back unsteadily on his feet as the elevator jerked, clutching Mingyu’s arm as they both exclaimed together, 

“Oh my god!”

Seungkwan let go of Mingyu to hold the sides of his head instead, staring over at the no-longer-functioning wall of elevator buttons. 

“Oh my god, this is a  _ disaster _ , this is a  _ nightmare _ , this can’t be  _ happening! _ I’m trapped in an elevator with  _ Kim Mingyu _ and I’m going to  _ die _ here and we’re never going to do the  _ pitch _ and i’m never going to get my  _ promotion _ and I’m going to die an  _ Account Executive _ which is barely even a step up from an  _ intern _ and-”

_ “Seungkwan!” _   
  


Mingyu grabbed the man by the shoulders and forced him to face him, cutting him off from the anxious meltdown he was slipping into. 

Seungkwan clamped his mouth shut and blinked up at him, their eyes meeting for a long, silent moment before his filled with moisture again, lip trembling. 

“I’m sorry.”

His voice was so soft it was almost a whisper, and it broke Mingyu’s heart. 

Seungkwan was the most capable person he had ever met, and possibly on earth. Nothing seemed to phase him even though even his closest friends were dedicated to teasing him constantly, and he clearly was the kind of person that could be CEO or president or ruler of the world someday if that was what his ambitious little heart desired. 

Everyone knew that about Seungkwan, but that wasn’t all there was to him, Mingyu knew. He knew, but he had been holding back on digging deeper into that side of the man, mostly for his own benefit until this damn pitch was over and done with. But that had been naive of him: Seungkwan needed him  _ now.  _

“You don’t have to be sorry. But please don’t cry.”

Mingyu spoke calmly, bringing a hand up to cup the man’s face and thumb a tear at the corner of his eye away before it could fall. Seungkwan huffed, and sniffled, but he didn’t look away. 

“It’s just - this wasn’t in the plan.”

His voice was small. He sniffled again, and sighed. 

“Well actually, crying had been in the plan, but not  _ before _ the pitch. Not trapped in the elevator with you, and covered in… iced americano…”

He huffed out a bitter laugh, and Mingyu couldn’t help but smile fondly at his coworker. His -  _ at least _ friend. 

“I know. You have a lot of pressure on you, I get it, Seungkwan.”

He brought his other hand up to cup both the younger man’s cheeks, expression serious though he kept his voice soft. 

“But it’s going to be okay. I’ll fix it,  _ I’ll _ make the plan. Just trust me, okay?”

Mingyu felt a slight hesitation in Seungkwan beneath his fingertips, like the younger man really wanted to turn his face away, but he didn’t let him. It was time to start looking love directly in the eye. 

The man gulped as he blinked shyly up at him through his lashes, for once at a loss for words, and finally simply gave a little nod. 

The moment stretched on between them, eyes locked together, and Mingyu hesitated before leaning down closer, Seungkwan’s lips parting slightly -

_ Ding! _

The elevator suddenly announced, its double doors parting to reveal the lobby of their building. The pair jumped apart and looked around the elevator in shock before stumbling out into the lobby before it changed their mind and clamped shut on them again. But Mingyu didn’t miss the way his friend's cheeks had flushed as they made their way through the lobby and out into the city. 

~~~~~~~~~~

“How’s it going in there?”

Seungkwan tapped impatiently on the dressing room door. A hand appeared at the top and the younger man knew his cue, passing the blazer he’d been clutching against his chest over to the man on the other side. 

As it turned out, Mingyu’s grand plan was to go to Nordstrom's. 

The store was just across from their office, which made it an even faster destination than Seungkwan’s apartment for a quick change, and there were hundreds of suit combinations to choose from. 

Once the pair had stepped back and actually evaluated the damage, they’d found that Mingyu - perhaps because he was gigantic - had taken the brunt of the coffee deluge, whereas Seungkwan really only needed a new white shirt to go under his navy blazer.

  
The younger man had already changed into a new, coffee-less shirt and was now assisting Mingyu on his third try-on as the man struggled to find something in the right size for him, because apparently all his suits were usually tailored to fit his humongous body. 

Now that he was clean, Seungkwan was feeling relatively calm again. Pressed for time, sure, but that was a predicament he could handle. He’d already called Jihoon and explained the situation while Mingyu was changing, and his manager had been understanding and kind enough on the phone to signal to Seungkwan that one of the dozen witnesses to The Coffee Incident must have told Jihoon how upset he’d been. Well, no matter. No one had even seen him cry, so he still had his dignity. Mingyu had made sure of that. 

“Can you help with the collar?”

The older man spoke as he pulled open the door, and Seungkwan took one gulping look at him before stepping forward to begin carefully folding down the collar and adjusting the loose knot of his tie. When he stepped back with a satisfied nod, Mingyu offered him a grin, turning to look himself over in the mirror. 

“How do I look?” 

Seungkwan looked over the fitted, charcoal suit his friend had adorned, his dark tie tucked into a matching grey vest beneath the blazer jacket. When he noticed Mingyu watching him expectantly in the mirror, he rolled his eyes. 

“I don’t know what you want me to say, it’s just a damn suit but you look like a rolex model or something.”

Seungkwan had never imagined what shopping with  _ Mingyu _ would be like, though the experience now was pretty much what he would have guessed. The man wanted to try on everything and looked good no matter what he did. 

Like everything else about him, it was  _ obnoxious _ , but Seungkwan had paused the war on Kim Mingyu for the day. There just wasn’t time. They both knew they had to work together if they had any hope of getting through today’s pitch in one piece. 

Plus, Seungkwan didn’t have the time or mental capacity to evaluate the situation yet, but the fact of the matter was, they almost had kissed in that elevator. Sober. You know, unlike the other time they actually  _ had  _ kissed. 

Mingyu just laughed at the man’s response and gathered up his things. 

“Okay, this is the one.”

They made their way out of the dressing room to go check out, but as they passed through the men’s section one last time, Mingyu suddenly grabbed Seungkwan by the wrist. 

“Oh my god, Seungkwan, you have to try this on.”

“Huh??”

The younger was surprised as his counterpart dragged him over to a rack of blazers, searching through the hangers for his size with a look of determination before pulling one out to hold up. 

It was a soft, rose pink with a strip of navy fabric on the breast pocket that matched Seungkwan’s pants, and the man could only gulp at it before Mingyu was literally pulling his jacket off of him to replace it with the one on the hanger. 

Seungkwan compliantly pulled his arms through and adjusted it on his frame, buttoning the front: a perfect fit. 

Even just looking down at himself he could tell it was perfect, but Mingyu pushed him by the shoulders over to the closest mirror anyways, his reflection beaming back at the younger man. 

“It’s perfect! You  _ have _ to get this, Seungkwan, it was made for you.”

Mingyu sighed cheerfully, dragging a hand lightly down Seungkwan’s arm as he admired the jacket on him. 

“Pink really is your color.”

Seungkwan shrugged the older man off, feeling pawed at, and recognizing that the tips of his ears were burning at this point. 

“I  _ know. _ ”

He snapped haughtily, not about to let Mingyu  _ declare _ such a thing about him like he  _ knew _ him or something. He reminded himself and the butterflies fluttering in the pit of his stomach that the older man was into  _ fashion, _ and being a big flirt, and _ that _ was where all the enthusiasm was coming from - it wasn’t anything more than that. Probably. 

As he stared at his own reflection in the mirror, though, Seungkwan felt the last bit of fight drain out of him. He wanted to argue about it, but really, pink  _ was _ his color and this jacket  _ was _ made for him and he  _ did _ have to get it. 

“ _ Fine. _ ”

Seungkwan finally sighed, Mingyu giggling and grabbing his shoulders again to squeeze in delight. 

Mingyu was still giggling when they finished checking out and began making their way through the department store towards the door. 

“This is  _ fun! _ ”

He exclaimed, eyeing the fashionable mannequins as they passed by and raising his phone to snap a quick selfie with an impatient looking Seungkwan to commemorate the outing. 

“Yeah, it’s  _ so _ fun to be panic shopping for clothes with the pitch in only -”

The younger man checked his watch and practically jumped, snatching Mingyu around the wrist to begin dragging him towards the exit at a jog. 

“Oh my god, we only have an hour until the pitch!”

Mingyu laughed as he was dragged back out to the busy streets, slipping his hand into Seungkwan’s own and easily overtaking him in a few broad strides to lead the way down the block instead. 

“This is crazy, isn’t it?”

He commented, unable to help but giggle again at how ridiculous the  _ big day _ was going so far. 

Seungkwan huffed, and then couldn’t help but crack up, too, the pair chuckling as they stumbled their way back into the lobby and into the elevator. It was true that this hadn’t been in  _ the plan _ \- but maybe that was okay. In a pinch, Seungkwan supposed that Mingyu’s plan worked, too. 

~~~~~~~~~~

It was over as soon as it had started, which Seungkwan always found was the most difficult fact to accept when it came to big moments in his life. 

It was a lot like riding a rollercoaster: the time it took to  _ click click click _ up the hill of the drop at the beginning was probably double the amount of time spent rocketing and spinning and whirling through the rest of the ride. 

“This will be over before you know it.”

Jihoon had warned them as they stood together in the glass conference room, or maybe he had been reassuring himself, as they watched the elevator doors on the far side of the conference crank open. There was a  _ “Damn.” _ Seungkwan heard his manager hiss next that he knew wasn’t meant for him to hear as they watched three men - Togokon - emerge from the elevators and start towards them. 

They were younger than Seungkwan had expected, which seemed like a good sign: they’d be easier to relate to during the presentation. They all wore similar suits, dark and pinstriped, and as the trio worked their way through the office they eyed its setup, the open groups of desks, and its colorful group of inhabitants. 

Seungkwan suddenly felt thankful that his usual antagonists - the devil twins, and Chan - were behaving today, perhaps scared into silence after the coffee explosion of nerves they had witnessed earlier that day.

The six of them went through the normal pleasantries in the doorway of the conference room, shaking hands and exchanging introductions and business cards, offering glasses of water and allowing everyone to get settled at the large, oak table in the center of the room. 

And then the presentation started. 

And just as quickly as it started, it was done. 

And it went perfectly! Or, it at least, it went as well as they had practiced, Seungkwan tried to reason with himself. 

But he could barely restrain his satisfied smile as he wrapped up the final slide, a hand held out towards the bullet points on the screen outlining their recommendations, Mingyu and Jihoon nodding along enthusiastically from their position across from him. 

“And that is why we recommend a monthly program of $20,000 in order to achieve the goals we’ve outlined today. Of course we can discuss how exactly that budget is distributed, but we really believe this would be the best bang for your buck in terms of what you’re seeking in an agency program.”

He folded his hands politely in front of him, bringing the presentation to a close with a cheery expression. 

“So now that we’ve given you a sense of our agency and our recommended plan, are there any questions?”

Seungkwan tried not to make it too obvious as he let out a breath of relief. His first pitch was done and over with. It wasn’t even that hard! 

He should’ve known: after all, they were very well-prepared. And the perfect team for the job. And yes, that included Mingyu, who was shooting him a tiny smile from across the room. 

The three men at the table exchanged a look, leaning back in their seats. They had been quiet during the presentation, besides the occasional whisper to each other between slide transitions. 

When the man in the middle spoke - Yejun was his name, and he was clearly the leader of their little trio - he had a cool expression, and his counterparts seemed to huff out a little chuckle under their breath. 

“Thanks for this little presentation, but honestly,  _ why _ would I grant some tiny agency such a bloated budget?”

Seungkwan gulped, blinking back at the man in surprise. Mingyu jumped in, gesturing to the slide still on the screen with an energetic smile. 

“Well as we explained, you actually end up  _ saving _ with an agency like ours because we’re entirely self-producing, which cuts down on-”

“I’m just not seeing the value at $20K.” 

Yejun interrupted, expression clearly unimpressed. He tucked one leg over the other, narrow eyes scanning the three still standing at the front of the room, and on either side of him, his counterparts took on a similarly casual posture, though their faces were set in arrogant smirks. 

Seungkwan suddenly felt hot around the collar, glancing over at his manager. What was happening right now? They had even practiced for a negative reaction to their pitch, but this was -  _ different.  _

Yejun pressed his lips together, dark eyes drifting from Mingyu, to Seungkwan, to Jihoon. 

“We’d need to go significantly lower on the budget, is that a possibility?”

He practically sighed it, the curve of a grin playing across his thin lips like it was all some kind of joke to him. 

Seungkwan nibbled on his own bottom lip as he considered the question. He’d never heard such a thing asked so frankly in a business meeting. What  _ was _ this?

“Well -”

He jumped in, ready to refute the idea. These guys were weird, and maybe a little rude, but he was not about to be intimidated so easily. They knew their program was good, they just had to convince Togokon of that. 

But before he could dive in, Yejun held up a hand.

“No disrespect, but I’d like the  _ account manager _ in the room to answer my question rather than junior staff, because I know  _ he’s _ the decision maker, not  _ you. _ ”

Seungkwan clamped his mouth shut, suddenly feeling small. 

All eyes turned to Jihoon, who stiffened where he stood beside Mingyu across the way, his lips pressed into a thin line. 

“No,” he finally spoke, words slow and deliberate in a way Seungkwan had never heard before, “it would not be possible to go  _ significantly _ lower, for a deliverable of this size.”

“But if you take a look at our customer testimonials,” 

The youngest tried again to jump in, using the clicker in his hand to pull up one of the slides from earlier in the presentation, his eyes bright with determination, 

“You’ll see how our agency really is a unique business model in that-”

“Right, we saw these earlier.”

One of Yejun’s minions - Seungkwan couldn’t even remember their names anymore - laughed, exchanging a look with his counterparts, who all were looking similarly amused. Yejun leaned forward, dark eyes scanning them again. 

“Honestly, though - was it Sung-wan? - doesn’t  _ every _ agency have companies they can get to say good things about them? But maybe our company isn’t as quick to rush into a bloated contract as your other customers were. What I’m saying is, these testimonies aren’t very qualified.”

He sat back in his seat to fold his hands in his lap, a mockery of politeness as he ripped the trio at the front of the room to shreds. 

“To that point, your agency’s reputation  _ does _ proceed it, and Togokon wasn’t sure if it was one we wanted to be associated with. Nothing I’ve seen today has so far changed our mind.”

The evil minions on either side of Yejun nodded, equal parts frowning and arrogant grin, muttering under their breath as they did, and Seungkwan was just close enough to the table to catch  _ “A circus” _ and  _ “Pink clown”.  _

Seungkwan opened his mouth, then shut it again. 

What was there to say? But he had to say  _ something! _ Potential client or not - no one had ever gotten away with speaking to him this way! 

But when he parted his lips again, Jihoon suddenly stepped forward, jutting out a hand in front of him. 

“Thank you for your time.”

He said it a little louder than he should have, but it was enough to silence his counterparts, Mingyu and Seungkwan both squeezing their hands into fists but saying nothing. 

Yejun eyed the stiff hand extended his way, and chuckled. 

“Oh, is the Q&A session over already?”

Jihoon’s gaze didn’t budge, locking the man with a stern look, his stiff jaw tensing before he answered, 

“You know where to find us, if you have any further questions.”

Togokon exchanged a look between the three of them that appeared a little too much like  _ victory _ , and stood, working their way towards the conference room door. Yejun gripped Jihoon’s hand in his own, dark eyes narrowing down at the man. 

“Mhm, we’ll call you.”

He practically smirked - clearly with no intention of the sort. 

Seungkwan felt numb as he watched the trio shuffle their way through the door, and out of his grasp. Out of his life. With no intention of ever coming back. 

“We’ll email you a copy of our presentation!”

Mingyu called after them as they left, trying desperately to pretend that it hadn’t been over for a long, long time at this point. 

Jihoon quietly clicked the conference room door closed behind Togokon as they exited, and Seungkwan stared at the stiff set of his manager’s shoulders as he stood with his back to them both. Jihoon slowly planted his hands on his hips, and let out a deep sigh. 

“Damn.”

He whispered to himself for the second time that afternoon, and it seemed to break the dam in his two underlings. 

“What was _ that!” _

“Did that really just  _ happen?” _

Jihoon pinched the bridge of his nose with another heavy sigh, shuffling over to sink into a chair at the end of the conference room table as Mingyu and Seungkwan tutted around him in dismay. 

“It’s one thing if they didn’t like it, but  _ god!” _

Mingyu huffed, crossing his arms with his eyebrows pulled together in an angry frown.

“They - they called me a -”

Seungkwan frowned, cutting himself off before he could finish, though Mingyu looked up from his own thoughts to peer over at him like he really wanted to hear it. 

Jihoon rubbed his hands over his face with a groan. Finally he crossed his arms over his chest instead, expression set in stone as he frowned up at the pair. 

“Listen, you two did a great job. The pitch went exactly as we practiced. They were just…”

He deflated a bit again, with another long-suffering sigh. 

“Look, I had heard that the Togokon team tended to  _ neg _ agencies - put them down to try and get a discount - but I didn’t mention it to you two because I figured it would just make us all more nervous. But  _ that _ …”

He shook his head. 

“That was just unprofessional. It was  _ wrong. _ I’m going to talk to Seungcheol about this…”

Seungkwan stared at his manager as he spoke, ears ringing so bad he could barely hear the man’s words. It was starting to sink in that it was over - the big pitch was over, and they had  _ failed _ . 

Jihoon lifted his gaze to frown straight back at his managee, already seeing all over his face where his mind was going. 

“Seungkwan - you too, Mingyu - listen to me, you didn’t do anything wrong. This was a  _ good pitch. _ Togokon just-”

He sighed again, standing to brace a hand on the table, the other rubbing at his brow, looking a little more defeated than he intended. 

_ “Wasted our time.” _

Jihoon finally spit out, voice bitter. Seungkwan felt Mingyu stiffen beside him, and peeked up at the disappointed frown on his friend’s face. The youngest gulped, balling his hands into fists at his side. 

Failure actually was  _ not _ in the plan, and Seungkwan was  _ sick _ of changing the plan. 

He hastily unbuttoned the front of his blazer and ripped his arms out of the sleeves, throwing the jacket down on one of the conference room chairs with more force than necessary. Then Seungkwan turned on his heel and rushed out the conference room door, heading straight for the exit. 

“Seungkwan, where are you going!”

Someone - maybe Mingyu - called after him, and he felt about a million eyes on him as he beelined towards his escape, not slowing even to wait for the elevator and instead pushing through the heavy door out into the stairwell, answering over his shoulder before he disappeared, 

“I’m going on lunch.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> did I derail the entire story, which will now have to be an entire chapter longer, just so Seungkwan and Mingyu could go play dress up at Nordstrom's? Yes. Do I regret it? Not at all. 
> 
> anyways im not posting the next chapter until My My hits 5 mil views so go stream :)


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dont worry seungcheol's not hetero

“Seungkwan, what’re we doing here, exactly?”

Mingyu rubbed at the back of his neck as he peered around the bar, Jihoon standing just as awkwardly beside him.

“Yeah, this isn’t really my scene…”

Seungkwan took a deep breath and offered his manager a patient smile, resting a hand on his shoulder before the older man shrugged it off.

“You said that. About four thousand times.”

The youngest then huffed at his coworker’s imploring expressions, and grabbed Mingyu by the wrist. 

“Look…”

He pulled the older man a few steps to the side, who complied with being led but watched his friend tentatively as Seungkwan rested a hand on his arm and leaned in close as if to conspire with him.

“The pitch isn’t over until I say it’s over. And it’s not over yet! Okay?”

Seungkwan’s eyes were glittering with determination and Mingyu pursed his lips at the look, though he couldn’t ignore the butterflies it gave him. 

“The pitch? Is that what this is about? Seungkwan…”

The youngest had insisted that Mingyu, Jihoon, and Seungcheol join him for a drink after work, not taking no for an answer even as his manager had protested having to redress, and leave the office while the sun was still out. It had seemed suspicious to Mingyu considering his friend had all but disappeared after their failed pitch, and he wondered if the man was up to something. 

He knew Seungkwan must not be taking Togokon’s rejection well and wanted to help him in any way he could, which is why he had agreed to come here although he hardly felt like celebrating. 

“Listen to me!!!”

The younger man gripped Mingyu by the arms and shook him, still smiling with determination even as he begged for his friend’s attention.

“I’ve got a plan, and I’m gonna need your help on this. Just trust me, okay?”

The look Seungkwan was giving him now was one Mingyu had never seen before earlier that day, trapped in the elevator: Trust. It was enough to make him stand up a little straighter, and nod firmly. 

“Okay, I’ve got your back.”

He flashed a pearly smile, and Seungkwan couldn’t help but offer one right back. His eyes darted off to the side but he didn’t actually turn his head away, and Mingyu counted it as a victory, however small. 

“Thanks, Mingyu.”

Seungkwan breathed it out like a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding, shoulders relaxing slightly. He gestured his friend back over to their manager, clapping him once on the back. 

“Now take Jihoon and go get us all drinks. And get one extra, too.” 

Mingyu considered the order with pursed lips and Jihoon looked back and forth between the pair, but Seungkwan was already turning on his heel to head back over to Seungcheol, who had grabbed a table for them towards the back. 

Unlike Jihoon and Mingyu, who had been suspicious of Seungkwan’s intentions from the start, their boss had seemed perfectly eager to go out for some drinks with the guys. He had one arm slung comfortably along the booth seat and his ankle crossed over his knee, content to wait for the others to return from ordering drinks at the bar. 

“Hey Seungkwan, great choice for happy hour! This place is pretty nice.”

He commented as the youngest joined him at the table, but Seungkwan was craning his neck to peer around the crowd, perking up with a wide grin when he spotted who he was looking for. 

“Khari, over here!”

He waved his hand over his head, and Seungcheol perked up too. 

“ _ Khari? _ ”

A dark skinned woman dressed in a blazer and heels melted out of the crowd, beaming at the pair with a friendly smile as she clicked her way over to the table and into Seungkwan’s welcoming hug hello. Seungcheol scrambled to his feet, gaping at the appearance of the dark haired woman. 

“ _ Cheollie, _ it’s so great to see you, how long has it been!”

Khari broke apart from Seungkwan to hug Seungcheol next with a giggle, and he patted politely at her back while trying to shoot his subordinate a questioning look, but Seungkwan was already sliding back into the booth. 

“Too long…”

The manager finally answered, and when Khari pulled away he returned her warm smile, deciding it was just good to see her even if he had no idea  _ why _ exactly he was seeing her right now. He gestured to their table and slid into the booth across from Seungkwan and Khari as the youngest spoke. 

“I’m so glad you were able to meet us for drinks, Khari, I’d heard you were in town and thought it’d be nice to catch up!”

Seungkwan nodded across at his boss, hoping he was reading the situation, before smiling over at Khari. Then he spotted Mingyu and Jihoon approaching with their drinks, and his smile widened. 

“Oh Khari, I hope you don’t mind some of the other guys from work joining us, we’re celebrating a pitch we finished today.” 

Seungkwan hopped up in time to meet the approaching pair and help pass out glasses - the house spritzer, once again a great drink choice from Mingyu, he noted - and facilitate introductions, explaining that Khari was a colleague of theirs with a tight smile that warned against any questions the pair might have, and they  _ did _ have several. 

Instead Mingyu and Jihoon smiled and nodded politely and shook hands with the woman before sliding into their seats, and Seungkwan took a seat, too. Phew.

“So a pitch, huh?”

Khari grinned, leaning back to stretch an arm along the back of the booth as she peered around the table, clearly perfectly comfortable commanding a small army of handsome men’s attention. 

“I’m glad I don’t have to do that anymore,  _ god _ \- remember pitching with me, Cheollie?”

She chuckled to herself, and when his managees chuckled along at their boss’ nickname Seungcheol sat up a little straighter with a pout.

“Should I tell them all about it?”

He retorted impishly and Khari waved her hand, laughing again with a  _ ‘no, no!” _ and taking a sip of her drink.

“Anyways, what was the company? Anyone I know?”

She finally set down her glass to ask, stirring at the ice with her straw as she peered around the group.

“Oh actually - uh  _ yeah, _ you definitely know them.”

Seungcheol huffed out a surprised laugh with a pat to his hair, then turned a look of understanding on Seungkwan, jaw tight as he smiled at him and added, 

“Gosh, what a coincidence.”

The youngest pressed his lips tight together and stared pointedly away, and Seungcheol resisted rolling his eyes before turning his attention back to the woman watching him.

“It was Togokon.”

The woman clapped her hands together in delight.

“Oh wow, small world!”

She leaned back in her seat again with a shrug. 

“Well with a company as big as mine you’d be surprised just how small the world can be. Anyways, I don’t really know all the different teams who’re under my department or else I’d put in a good word, of course.”

Seungkwan turned to Jihoon and Mingyu, quietly explaining, 

“Khari works for Kon Corps.”

The pair mouthed the company name to themselves, understanding washing over them both.  _ Kon Corps _ as in, the corporate giant behind several innovation hubs around the globe including - Togo- _ Kon. _

  
They slowly turned their attention back towards the woman at the table with new understanding, as Seungcheol offered an easy shrug. 

“Ha it’s alright, we think it wasn’t really a great fit for us, anyways.”

Seungkwan sat up a little straighter in his seat, rearing back to kick his boss under the table, but Seungcheol fixed him with a knowing smile that froze the youngest in place. The boss turned his attention back to his friend, leaning forward to rest his chin in his hand as he peered at her. 

“Those smaller projects are always kind of tough to dig in on, you know what I mean? Big concepts are really where our team shines.”

Khari pursed her lips and nodded along, quick to sympathize with the man.

“You guys really are a one in a million, they don’t make agencies like yours anymore. Trust me, we’ve been on the hunt for one of our own lately…”

She trailed off with a shake of her head, exhausted just by the mention of the task, then sipped at her drink, looking thoughtful.

“We’ve got good timing, then!”

Mingyu laughed, and his three coworkers waited until Khari laughed too before joining in, not sure how she’d take the forward comment. 

“Well, it  _ is _ the season, at this point. I’m sure everyone’s looking for agencies right now.” 

Jihoon added with a nod, and the others couldn’t help but nod along with him, offering hums of agreement.

“We’re probably due to kick off another pitch already.”

Seungcheol commented with lips pursed in thought, sipping at his drink. 

The conversation drifted away from work after that, the group finding common ground in the latest shows they’d been binging and restaurants they’d recommend around town, and complaining about the sorts of things colleagues tended to over drinks, like the weather, and travel, and noisy neighbors. 

When all the ice had melted in Seungkwan’s drink he announced that it was time he head home, and with a quick pinch to JIhoon and Mingyu under the table the pair quickly agreed and stood, bidding Khari and Seungcheol goodnight and leaving the two at the table still chatting away as the trio stepped out into the night. 

“So… that’s it?”

Mingyu asked once they all were outside, looking between Jihoon who was taking deep breaths to come down from the mortifying ordeal of being  _ social  _ and Seungkwan who was slowly melting into a full body grin if such a thing was even possible, the success of his plan seeming to buzz beneath every inch of his skin. 

“Yup, I’m sure Seungcheol and Khari have a lot of catching up to do.”

The youngest offered simply instead, composing himself enough to give Mingyu a pat on the arm, who pursed his lips down at the man.

“That timing was kinda crazy, don’t you think?”

“Mhm, pretty crazy.”

Jihoon eyed his youngest managee pointedly, with a look that Seungkwan knew well:  _ We’ll be talking about this later.  _

But for now, their long day was  _ finally _ coming to a close, and they all felt the exhaustion settling over them as the cool night air nipped at the skin exposed by rolled blazer sleeves.

“Are you heading back to the office garage, Jihoon?”

Mingyu inquired, peering with a little concern at the manager who looked capable of falling asleep right there on his feet. 

“Nah, I have a driver.”

The eldest responded as he pulled out his phone, and Seungkwan laughed once at the expression that flashed across Mingyu’s features at the answer.

“He means an Uber.”

“What about you guys?”

Jihoon ignored the callout to ask, without looking up from his phone. 

“His apartment’s that way.”

Mingyu pointed over his shoulder, and a moment passed as Jihoon lifted his gaze to raise an eyebrow between the pair. The tall man suddenly put up his arms in defense, stuttering out as Seungkwan rolled his eyes beside him,

“A-and I walk him there  _ on my way to the train.” _

“Right.”

Jihoon pressed his lips together, clearly unimpressed, before pocketing his phone to clap each of the men on the arm.

“Well, goodnight you two. And good job today.”

Mingyu and Seungkwan offered their manager parallel smiles and a little wave before heading off down the sidewalk together, falling into a comfortable pace together side by side. 

The younger let out a content sigh and dug his hands in his pockets, Mingyu watching from the corner of his eye the way the man peered up at the sky as he walked rather than down at his feet. 

“So, are you going to let me in on this grand plan of yours?”

The older finally asked, but Seungkwan just smiled over at him, batting playfully at his arm. 

“No way, if I say it out loud it’ll jinx everything.”

Mingyu laughed at that, not at all surprised to learn that his friend was superstitious. He nudged his chin back in the direction of the bar -  _ their _ bar, as it was becoming. 

“Okay then, but did that go well back there?”

“Yes it did.”

Seungkwan’s smile grew warmer, and he turned back to peer at the sky again, almost as if he could see the stars just beyond the haze of light the city cast at night. 

“Thank you for trusting me, Mingyu.”

“Anytime.”

Mingyu answered, and he meant it. He let it hang long enough in the air to let it really sink in, before rubbing at the back of his neck. His friend’s apartment building was in sight already, and there was still something he needed to ask. 

“So… is the pitch done now? I know it's not over until you say it’s over.”

Seungkwan pulled his hands out of his pockets to fold behind his back, turning on his heel as he came to a stop outside his building to smile up at Mingyu. 

“Not quite yet. But I think it’s close, now.”

Mingyu returned the smile the man gave him, something warm glowing deep in the pit of his chest. Seungkwan had come a long way from the defeated man he’d been earlier that day, crying in the elevator, and Mingyu couldn’t help but think he’d helped put that smile on Seungkwan’s face. He wondered what it would be like to help put it there every day. 

“Well just let me know when it  _ is  _ done, Seungkwan, because I’m planning to ask you out once the pitch is behind us.”

It seemed to take a second to sink in, Seungkwan blinking slowly up at Mingyu - and then much more quickly turning bright pink from the balls of his cheeks to the tips of his ears. He let out a nervous laugh and glanced away, and Mingyu thought to himself that making Seungkwan flustered was possibly even more cute than making him smile. 

“O-oh okay well… I’ll… let you know.”

The younger man finally choked out, and it was Mingyu’s turn to chuckle. Yeah, Seungkwan had come a long way.

They shared a quick goodnight before Seungkwan scuttled inside his building, still flustered by the unexpected proposition. But Mingyu didn’t mind, whistling contentedly to himself as he turned and headed down the road alone to his train stop. Seungkwan was worth waiting for; he’d figured that out from the beginning. 

  
  


~~~~~~~~~~

  
  


"So…"

Seungkwan peered aimlessly around the office as he got his bearings, tucking the tips of his fingers beneath his thighs to resist nervously twiddling his thumbs.

Seungcheol and Jihoon had called him into his manager's office as soon as he'd arrived that morning and that was where they all were sizing each other up now, Jihoon seated at his desk with his fingers templed together in front of him and Seungcheol leaned against the file cabinet behind him with his arms crossed. 

The account executive leaned forward in his seat and offered the pair across from him a practiced smile. If this was about what he thought it was about, then he didn't have anything to be afraid of: after all, the pitch wasn't over yet.

"Was it true Khari stopped by the office this morning? I thought I saw her drive by on my way in."

He asked, sounding a little more eager than he would've liked, but too curious to care.

"Yes, Seungkwan, that's what you're here to discuss with us."

Seungcheol responded with a lifted eyebrow, pushing off from the file cabinet to plant a hand on his hip.

"Obviously we know what you were up to with that little happy hour you organized last night. Jihoon and I have been discussing what to do with you all morning."

Seungkwan's smile twitched, but he didn't drop it yet.

"I didn't  _ do _ anything, I just  _ happened  _ to-"

His manager waved a hand at that, finally speaking up.

"It's okay, Seungkwan, you can save it. The fact of the matter is, Khari is seeking to take us on for a $40,000 project with Kon Corps."

Seungkwan's jaw dropped, his poker face flying out the window at the news. He was speechless. That was… more than he had expected. Had he really done it?!

The two managers couldn't help but soften a bit at their subordinate's expression, but Seungcheol cleared his throat to try and drag Seungkwan back down to earth.

"Jihoon told me how the Togokon pitch went. I'm really sorry they were so unprofessional."

He shook his head, and Jihoon seemed to frown just at the memory. Seungcheol continued,

"I want you to understand that including you on this pitch was about seeing how you could work on a team, and if you were ready to be pitching at a senior level. From what Jihoon tells me, you exceeded our expectations, regardless of the outcome with Togokon." 

Seungkwan sat up straighter in his chair and beamed, a little worried he might start floating right up to the ceiling from all the high praise. 

"However." 

Seungcheol crossed his arms again with a frown, and Jihoon leaned back in his chair. Seungkwan hesitated.

"It was reckless of you to go behind our backs and take matters into your own hands when things didn't go the way you wanted them to."

Jihoon started, Seungcheol nodding along behind him - had they practiced this?? - before adding,

"There's a million ways you reaching out to Khari could've gone wrong, and it wasn't your place to make that call for the team. You're going to have to learn to think beyond your own ego to be a successful senior staff, Seungkwan." 

The younger man squirmed in his seat with a frown, feeling like he had motion sickness from the rollercoaster of emotion he was being subjected to. He practically groaned when Seungcheol continued,

"That being said."

The boss couldn't help but break into a grin, finally able to set his serious tone aside.

"It is so damn  _ stylish _ to go out and win a project for double the budget from the company that  _ owns _ the company that just dissed us."

Seungkwan lifted his eyes from blinking shamefully down at his knees to find that, to his surprise, both managers were smiling at him now. Jihoon leaned forward in his seat again, expression sincere as he spoke.

“You took a risk without hesitating, and it paid off. It’s those instincts of yours that make you such a valuable member of the team, Seungkwan. Good job.”

“But next time,"

Seungcheol held up a chastising finger, though his tone was light now as he smiled at the youngest,

"Don’t be so afraid of letting us in on the plan, okay?”

Seungkwan sighed, a million pounds lifting off his shoulders as he broke into a smile and nodded. If his eyes were a little moist, his managers didn't say anything.

"Okay, I understand."

Satisfied with the response, Jihoon leaned back again and dragged a hand through his hair, seemingly exhausted already from the level of  _ managing _ he was doing so early in the morning. He decided to end their little meeting with one last note.

“So, we’ll discuss this further in our one-on-one later, but based on your performance I will be putting you forward for promotion at the end of quarter. Congratulations, Seungkwan.”

The young man lit up like a Christmas tree, blinking rapidly between the pair.

_ "Really?!" _

Seungcheol chuckled.

"Yes  _ really, _ you've earned it!" 

A laugh burst out of Seungkwan that released all the  _ promotion jitters _ that had been bothering him for weeks, and he leapt to his feet to grasp Jihoon's hands in his own, then scurried over to throw his arms around less-hug-averse-Seungcheol.

"Thank you, thank you  _ so much, _ I won't let you down!!"

Both managers were chuckling at the response they had totally expected from Seungkwan, and Jihoon squeezed past the pair to cross over and pull open the door to his office.

"Yeah yeah, of course we know that. Now everyone get out of my office! It's too early for all this, you know." 

The youngest detached himself from bear-hugging his boss to practically float out of the room, still glowing as it continued to sink in that he was going to be Boo Seungkwan,  _ Senior Account Executive.  _

Out on the main floor, several pairs of curious eyes watched Seungkwan as he emerged from his boss' office, but there was one person he locked eyes with right away, standing tall from across the room and looking particularly worried for his desk mate who had been locked up with the bosses all morning. 

It only took Seungkwan a moment to think of what to do next. Taking a risk had rewarded him once already - why stop there?

He closed the space between him and Mingyu with something between a skip and a run, ignoring the curious onlookers to throw his arms around the tall man's neck and pull him down into a deep kiss. He didn't pay any mind to the chatter the office broke into around them - even when he heard a chiding  _ "Seungkwan!" _ from Seungcheol across the room - buzzing with too much happiness and opportunity and  _ plans _ as he kissed Kim Mingyu.

When they broke apart with a pleasant  _ pop _ just as quick as they had come together, Mingyu blinked in surprise down at Seungkwan, who was beaming right back up at him.

"I-is the pitch over?"

It was all he could think to ask, and Seungkwan giggled shyly with a little nod.

“Yes it is, and that kiss is the answer to your next question, too.”

He watched the realization slowly dawn on Mingyu before taking a step back into a more appropriate distance between coworkers and folding his hands behind his back with a little nod. 

“Plan a cute date for us, okay?”

It was a command, but he delivered it so, so sweetly, Mingyu couldn’t help but break into a grin as he nodded. He definitely wasn’t going to mind being ordered around by Boo Seungkwan. 

“Okay everyone, pay up!”

Chan clapped his hands together and looked around at his coworkers expectantly, many of whom groaned in response. 

It was actually Vernon who was the first one to speak as he watched several of his coworkers, including Wonwoo beside him, start pulling out their wallets to indeed  _ pay up. _

“So is this office always… like this?”

“What do you mean?”

Wonwoo responded sincerely, but when Vernon looked over he had to do a double take at the way Soonyoung was draped over his friend’s shoulders, lips pursed in a focused pout as he teasingly tried to swipe the cash out of the bespeckled man’s hands as he counted it out.

“Looks like I owe you lunch, Soonie!”

Seokmin called to the nuisance of a manager from across the room, shrugging with a defeated smile as Soonyoung cheered (and Wonwoo winced at the sound in his ear). 

“Hey! You bet  _ against _ me getting with Mingyu, Seokmin??”

Seungkwan turned to his best friend to plant his hands on his hips with a pout, already catching on to what was going on here although Mingyu was still looking pretty confused. Seokmin offered a sheepish smile, holding up his hands in defense. 

“Well the bet was that you’d get together here in the office, which seemed kind of extreme for you!”

_ “Actually,” _

Joshua butt in with a cross of his arms, 

“The bet was you’d get together here in the office  _ on Jihoonie’s couch,  _ so I  _ won’t _ be paying up.”

“That was an inappropriate display anyways, don’t you think?”

Jeonghan joined his counterpart in the protest against paying up, swiveling in his chair to whine in the direction of his manager’s office, 

_ “Jihoonie, _ Seungkwan is being a real menace to society out here!”

“You’re all menaces, and none of you are allowed on my couch anymore.”

The manager snapped right back as he pulled his office door closed, not about to get dragged into the middle of his troublesome department’s antics. 

“And don’t call me that,  _ Yoon Jeonghan.” _

He added just before clicking the door closed and disappearing into his sanctuary, Jeonghan huffing and crossing his arms with a pout. Joshua simply giggled. 

“Hey, did I just get away with calling him that~?”

Jeonghan’s lips curled into a devilish smile once again as he turned back to his friend. 

“Yes, you definitely did.”

Beside the pair, Seokmin sighed dreamily. 

“I wish  _ I  _ could get away with calling him that…”

Seungkwan couldn’t help but crack up at the absolute madness the office had broken out into, and he felt Mingyu rest his hand on his shoulder as he burst out laughing beside him, too. Yes, their office was pretty crazy - and so was Seungkwan’s sitcom life, too. But somehow - whether it was destiny, or just really good casting - Kim Mingyu seemed to fit right in. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> are we all gay for khari?? anyways im sorry this was late but it was really long and plot heavy ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ 
> 
> next chapter will be shorter since it'll be an epilogue, just enjoying some cute boogyu <3 and I'll post it once left&right reaches 10mil views so go stream! happy comeback!! :D


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> remember when i said this would be short skdhksfj then i remembered i fucking love boogyu

True to his word, Mingyu planned their first date, and although at first he had tried to keep the details a surprise, Seungkwan had quickly set the record straight later that Friday night that he would  _ not  _ be showing up unless he knew  _ exactly _ what was going to happen. 

He explained - he  _ FaceTimed _ , because it was too much to type out, as many facets of himself often were - that while he  _ did _ enjoy surprises, there were a lot of exterior details and conditions that needed to be taken into consideration when planning a surprise for him that led Mingyu to conclude he wasn’t  _ nearly  _ capable of taking on (at least yet). 

And so he told the man that they would be sharing a picnic brunch in Forest Park in the south part of the city at 11 am on Sunday, and all he had to do was show up - and please bring Bookkeu. Seungkwan had kept his joy all contained in the glitter of his eyes as Mingyu laid out the plan for him, but finally broke into a big smile at the mention of his puppy baby. 

“Let’s make it 11- _ ish.” _

He added when he was done giggling, apparently already planning to be late, then flashed a peace sign, a cheek heart, and a wave. 

“That all sounds perfect Gyu can’t wait I’ll seeya then love ya bye!”

He gushed, and then hung up. Mingyu let out a sigh, trying to get his bearings again after the whirlwind conversation - and had Seungkwan just sort of said he _ loved  _ him? 

Apparently he had passed round one, even though he didn’t know there were  _ rounds _ to pass in order to go on a date with Seungkwan. There was still a lot he had to learn about that man...

It was perhaps for that reason that he spent most of Saturday a nervous wreck, anxiously checking the weather conditions for Sunday, digging through his closet for that picnic blanket he  _ swore _ he’d stored in here  _ somewhere, _ researching ‘101 Yummy Brunch Recipes’ online, making half a dozen trips to the grocery store - the clerk was starting to give him funny looks - and testing just about all 101 recipes, dirtying every dish in the house in the process and somehow coating the entire kitchen in flour. 

Amid all that, he was also rapidly and anxiously texting Seungkwan. 

Even though his response was basically useless, it lit a fire under Mingyu. 

_ Pick up burgers _ \- is  _ that  _ what he expected of him?? Boo Seungkwan deserved  _ so much better _ than eating some fast food on a blanket in a park. That’s not a  _ cute, romantic, picnic date!  _ Apparently he was going to need some educating. 

He worked well into the night, but when he woke up the next morning, Mingyu felt calm. Excited, yes, but no longer anxious. He was prepared to show Seungkwan a really good time. In fact, he had been prepared to show him a good time for a  _ really _ long time now. 

But apparently Seungkwan was starting to feel the first date jitters now, too, because it was  _ his  _ turn to start anxiously texting his significant other. 

.

“Hey will you quit spam texting me? You’re not one of  _ those _ kinds of boyfriends, are you??”

A familiar voice called from behind Mingyu, and he turned in time to see Seungkwan making his way up the grassy hill towards him, grinning with a tray of iced americanos in one hand and a bag tucked on his elbow that had a fuzzy white nose sticking out of it. 

Mingyu broke into a smile, deciding not to call Seungkwan on the fact that  _ he _ had been the one acting like one of those boyfriends all morning, because he still was reeling from the fact that he’d just called him his  _ boyfriend. _

Seungkwan stopped to crouch down in the grass and remove the wiggling puppy from his bag, looking just as lit up and excited as his little pet as he gasped, 

“Who’s that? Who’s that over there, baby?? Do you remember?? Go give him kisses!”

Bookkeu  _ did _ remember and he did not need to be told twice, he scrambled across the grass as fast as his little legs could take him to leap directly into Mingyu’s welcoming arms, the man squatting down with a laugh to greet the little fluff ball. 

Seungkwan threw back his head and laughed at the sight of the two puppies giving each other a million kisses, pulling out his phone to snap a few pictures before finally making his way over to the pair. Mingyu scooped Bookkeu into his arms and straightened up to meet the man with a smile and a peck on the lips. 

“Hi Seungkwan.”

“Hi Mingyu, sorry I’m late.”

Now that they were face to face, here in the park on their very first date (although it felt like they already were further along than that), a lot of nerves and excitement buzzed between the pair as they blinked into each other's eyes and turned pink in the cheeks. And when Bookkeu craned his neck up to start licking at his owner’s blushing face, they both started giggling. 

They didn’t stop giggling until they were situated on the blanket, and Mingyu cleared his throat to walk Seungkwan through the many, many dishes laid out for them to enjoy. Seungkwan sipped quietly on his coffee and nodded along through the explanation, oohing and aahing in all the right places, and when MIngyu was done he hummed thoughtfully. 

“Wow, where’d you get all this? It looks delicious.”

Mingyu scoffed, resisting rolling his eyes, though maybe he was a little bit pleased by the fact that Seungkwan couldn’t even tell that - 

“I  _ made _ all this, Seungkwan.”

The younger man stiffened at the revelation, slowly lowering his coffee as he looked with fresh eyes over the array of biscuits and quishes and salads and pies and chocolate dipped fruit and sausages cut in the shape of little animals. 

“Y-you…?”

He gulped, cheeks turning pink all over again as he murmured, 

“I should’ve brought something…”

Mingyu laughed at that. It was always a surprise when Seungkwan was going to suddenly stop yelling and boasting and teasing long enough to actually get self conscious, but he was getting used to the man’s mood swings now - and he was happy to be there to lift him back up again. 

“You brought the coffee!”

He reminded him, holding up his own cup and taking a sip for emphasis, before resting his free hand over Seungkwan’s own on the blanket. 

“Don’t worry, I  _ wanted _ to cook for you. I have for a while, actually.”

He reached over to snag a biscuit and pop it in his mouth, then added around a mouthful of food that made Seungkwan wince to witness,

“So dig in cause I wanna eat some, too.”

Seungkwan rolled his eyes but grinned, and as he started sampling little bites of this and that, Mingyu suddenly clapped his hands together. 

“Oh! That reminds me.”

He searched through his bag a moment before pulling out a little pink cellophane bag tied with a ribbon in a bow. 

“I have a little something for Bookkeu, too.”

“You  _ do?” _

The younger man’s eyes widened in surprise as he nibbled on a strawberry, scooting closer to his counterpart to eye the little gift in his hands. Mingyu shrugged. 

“Yeah, it’s just some dog treats I baked.”

“That’s so  _ cute!” _

Seungkwan swooned as he took the package from the man, holding it up and cooing, 

“Oh my  _ gosh  _ they’re in the shape of little bones! Why are you so  _ perfect, _ Gyu??”

The older man dissolved into shy giggles, not quite sure how to answer such a question, but Seungkwan wasn’t waiting on an answer, pulling out his phone and snapping a few pictures of the little gift for the ‘gram before carefully tugging off the bow to pull out a treat. 

He called to his puppy frolicking in the grass a few feet away, who trotted over and - after being made to offer both his left and right front paws for a shake - happily accepted the cookie from his owner and plopped down on a corner of the blanket to nibble on it. Mingyu let out a sigh of relief. 

“Oh good, he likes it.”

Seungkwan turned on the man, cupping his cheeks in his hands to give him the most glowing, fond smile Mingyu had ever  _ seen, _ let alone directed at  _ him. _ He held his breath and waited but Seungkwan didn’t say anything, just beamed at him a moment before turning back to munching on his brunch. 

So Mingyu pulled out his phone and took a few snaps of Bookkeu enjoying his snack, then turned the camera on Seungkwan to try and capture a few candids of him eating too. But the younger man quickly caught him and shoved the camera away until he could sit up properly, angle himself towards the light, and press himself into Mingyu’s side for a flattering series of selfies. 

He stayed leaning against the older man after that, resting his head gently on his shoulder as he munched, occasionally lifting his fork up to Mingyu to feed him a bite too, and Mingyu did the same, holding up strawberries for the younger man to eat. 

They bitched together about those Togokon assholes some more - they would never be over that - and chatted about their coworkers, then easily drifted into lighter conversations about their weekends and their interests and their lives. 

Seungkwan explained that his tendons are too short to cross his legs, and he explained what it’s like to have two older sisters, and he explained this new supplement he was trying that supposedly helps your hair grow in thicker, and he explained, and explained, and explained, and Mingyu listened attentively to it all. 

Mingyu liked the feeling of the younger man’s voice vibrating against him where he was leaned back against his chest, and he liked watching the way Seungkwan moved his hands when he spoke, stretching out his little, well-manicured fingers and turning his wrists this way and that as if they were all part of the story. 

Eventually they laid back on the blanket together, surrounded by empty plates and bowls and filled with good food, and enjoyed just listening to the sounds of the park: the gentle breeze, the bubbling fountain, the faint chatter of passerby, and the occasional bird calls. 

Bookkeu trotted over and curled up right on his owner’s chest, who giggled with an ‘oof!’ as if the dog weighed anything at all, and Mingyu giggled too, reaching down with the free arm that wasn’t stretched out under Seungkwan like a pillow to pet at the puppy’s fluffy white ears. 

He wished he could stay like this forever, but eventually Mingyu sighed, breaking the silence. 

“It’s getting kinda hot, isn’t it?”

Seungkwan sighed too, and yawned. 

“Yeah it is. I almost fell asleep, the sun feels so nice… but I’m getting thirsty.”

Mingyu brought his hand up from a dozing Bookkeu to brush absently at his boyfriend’s hair instead. 

“I planned to drive you home. Why don’t we go drop all this stuff off at my place, and I can pour you a drink before we go.”

The younger man craned his head back to peek up at him in surprise. 

“You  _ drive?” _

Mingyu was completely baffled by the question, but thankfully, Seungkwan sat up, moving on before he had to answer. He gently distributed his sleepy puppy onto the blanket and replaced his sun hat on his head from where it had been discarded on the blanket, and his boyfriend smiled up at him lazily.

“Did I mention you look really cute today?”

“Are you gonna say that  _ every  _ day now?”

Seungkwan huffed out a laugh, looking exasperated, but also like he didn’t mind at all if Mingyu  _ did  _ say it every day. The older man chuckled as he finally sat up. 

“Only when it’s true.”

Which as far as he was concerned,  _ was _ every day. 

They set to work tidying up their little picnic, gently stacking empty dishes in Mingyu’s basket and folding up the blanket - getting a little distracted along the way to play with Bookkeu - before finally falling into step together to start leisurely making their way out of the park and back out into the city.

“Can’t I help carry anything?”

Seungkwan eyed Mingyu carrying the basket with pursed lips, feeling a little guilty there was nothing for him to do. The man just shrugged, breaking into a grin. 

“If you want to hold something, you can hold my hand.”

He slipped his hand into Seungkwan’s own, who tried to school the bashful smile working its way onto his face, and gave his hand a squeeze in return. 

They walked about a city block like that before Mingyu came to a stop, setting down his basket to start fishing in his pockets for his keys. 

“Here we are!”

He announced, and Seungkwan’s confused face melted into one of horror.

_ “Here?” _

He craned his neck up at the apartment building they stood in front of, then looked back at the park they had just come from, then at the streets surrounding them. 

“Wait - you live  _ here?” _

Mingyu frowned. 

“Yeah? What’s wrong?”

“You - you  _ can’t _ live here!”

Seungkwan threw up his hands in dismay, then pouted severely at Mingyu, shoving at his arm. 

“You’re such a liar and a sneak! My apartment isn’t on your way home at all! You must have been…”

He gripped his hands in his own hair, trying to make sense of it all, while Mingyu slowly descended into guilty giggles at having been caught. 

“You must have been walking like, five or six blocks out of your way every night, to make it to the blue train from my place…”

“It’s closer to seven or eight.”

Mingyu responded gently, then giggled again at the exaggerated look of horror Seungkwan gave him. 

“Seungkwan it’s  _ fine, _ I didn’t mind at all. Our evening walks are the best part of my day.”

Then he reached out a hand to pat at the wiggling nose poking out from the bag on his boyfriend’s arm. 

“So please calm down, you’re scaring the baby...”

Seungkwan clamped his mouth shut when he finally realized it had been hanging open, and fell silent, still shell shocked from the news. 

Mingyu gave the man an amused smile, slipping his hand into his own again and leading him into the lobby of his building. Seungkwan was silent as they made their way up to Mingyu’s apartment, letting the man lead him by the hand into his impeccably decorated living room with floor to ceiling art hanging on the walls and modern furniture with sleek lines. 

“You live alone?”

He finally murmured, suddenly feeling very small. 

“Mhm!”

Mingyu called from where he was unloading the picnic basket in the kitchen, but when he spotted the way Seungkwan was frozen he stopped what he was doing to make his way over to the man. 

He gently pulled his bag away from his arm and set it down so an anxious Bookkeu could scuttle away to explore his new surroundings, then straightened to try and meet Seungkwan’s eye. 

“Is something wrong?”

“It’s just-”

The younger man glanced away, nibbling anxiously on his bottom lip.

It was a lot easier to hate Kim Mingyu than love him. Or actually - it just made more sense. 

Thinking of Mingyu as sneaky, and a cad, and up-to-no-good made his presence in Seungkwan’s life so much understandable. Because if he really was as sweet, and charming, and mature, and loving as he obviously was, then it just didn’t make sense why…

“I don’t get… why you’re being so nice to me.”

He finally murmured, then added in just a whisper, 

“Is this all just a joke?”

_ Am I a joke to you, Kim Mingyu? _

Mingyu had been asked before - several times now - by Seungkwan. It was time to set the record straight. 

He took the younger man’s hands in his own, squeezing them tightly. 

“Listen: nothing about this is a joke to me. I seriously love you, Seungkwan. That’s the truth.”

Seungkwan gulped, turning his head away, but Mingyu leaned around to try and meet his eye, not about to let him turn away from the love he so desperately needed to receive. 

“I’m being nice to you because I think you’re really cute, and talented, and hardworking, and charming. You’re the most interesting person I’ve ever met and I look forward to talking to you every day.”

He frowned then, because he really felt like his words were failing him: they weren’t his strong suit.

“I want to take you on cute picnics, and go shopping with you, and walk you home every day, because - well I’m not great with words… but I  _ have  _ to show you how much I love you  _ somehow...” _

Seungkwan finally peeked over at Mingyu, pursing his lips slightly. Maybe that sentiment made sense to him, at least - he who pelted his friends with vitamin packs and nagged them about stretching and picked them up coffee, to try and show them how much he cared. 

“A-and you’re sexy. I should’ve said that before.”

Mingyu stuttered out, and Seungkwan huffed out a shy laugh, caught by surprise. 

“And I love your dog.”

The older man concluded, Bookkeu seemingly sensing his cue and coming trotting over to nibble affectionately at his owner’s toes. 

Seungkwan giggled again, leaning down to scoop up his puppy in his arms, and Mingyu breathed a little sigh of relief to see him feeling a little better. He wasn’t sure what round he’d just passed - maybe three or four - but it seemed like an important one. 

“You’re not just dating me for my dog, right? I can’t help but notice you finally kissed me when you met him.”

Seungkwan straightened to be met with a serious face from his boyfriend. 

“I wanted to kiss you since the night I met you in the bar, Seungkwan.”

The younger man blinked at him in surprise, then broke into a smile with a little sigh - almost as if exasperated by the amount of love Mingyu was overwhelming him with. He leaned up to press his lips to the man’s own, and Mingyu brought a hand up to pull Seungkwan closer by the jaw, kissing him deeply. 

When Bookkeu craned his head up to lick at the pair they laughed against each other’s lips, and pulled away. 

“Thank you for planning such a cute date today, Gyu.”

Seungkwan said sweetly, then crouched to set down Bookkeu again, who scurried away to explore. Mingyu batted a hand, crossing over into the kitchen again as he spoke. 

“It’s no problem. Like I said, I’ve wanted to cook for you for a while, I cook for all my friends.”

Seungkwan watched the man as he pulled out a glass from the cupboard and poured some water, eyes glinting as he made his way over to lean against the kitchen with a faux sigh. 

“Oh, is that what we are?”

Mingyu shot a look over at him that was somewhere between a grin and long-suffering, remembering that first night in the bar. 

“Friends can be dates too, you know.”

The older man strolled over to offer him the glass.

“Buy you a drink?”

Seungkwan took it from him, working to keep a smirk from spreading across his features, but he was failing. 

“You can give it a shot.”

Mingyu lifted an eyebrow down at him, leaning his hands on the counter on either side of Seungkwan, boxing him in. 

“You wanna do shots?”

Seungkwan giggled, taking a quick sip of water before setting the glass aside to bring his arms up and curl them around Mingyu’s shoulders instead. 

“This isn’t that kind of bar.”

He murmured against the man’s lips before they closed the space between them, kissing each other deeply. 

Everything else aside, kissing Kim Mingyu was incredibly easy. He was tall, but he knew how to get down in Seungkwan’s space as he kissed him, just as he had whittled himself underneath the younger man’s skin these past few weeks, closing the space between them slowly, and then all at once. 

Seungkwan sighed against Mingyu’s lips as he kissed him, dragging his fingers through soft, brown curls, using the leverage to pull the man tightly against him. Mingyu’s hands were everywhere: they were cupping his cheeks, and they were in his hair, and they were on the small of his back, and they were pulling him closer by the hips. 

But it wasn’t enough, they still weren’t close enough and they communicated it to each other with whimpers and huffs between impatient kisses until firm hands were lifting Seungkwan up onto the kitchen counter, who happily curled his legs and arms around Mingyu without breaking apart from him. 

_ “Kwannie…” _

Mingyu breathed against the younger man’s lips, then captured the lower one between his teeth to nibble at, earning a soft whimper. 

_ Gentle touch. _

He reminded himself as he dragged his teeth along Seungkwan’s jaw, but did not bite - not yet, there was still so much time for that he reasoned, pressing his lips against the skin instead, grinning at the way the younger man shuddered against him. 

Mingyu trailed his hands down Seungkwan’s body, finally, _ finally  _ cupping the man’s ass in his grip as he had pretty much fantasized about every minute of the day for weeks, and squeezing hard. 

_ “Gyu!” _

Seungkwan gasped and arched slightly against him, it sounding like a reprimand although he  _ definitely _ was not displeased. Mingyu broke into a grin as the younger man breathed out between frantic kisses, 

“Just so you know, I - I don’t hook up on first dates-...”

“Okay.”

Mingyu replied easily, kissing him back without missing a beat, and Seungkwan nibbled at his boyfriend’s lower lip a moment as if he was using it to help him contemplate. 

“But um - making out is okay…”

“Okay.”

Mingyu was already lifting Seungkwan off the counter to carry him over to the couch, anticipating the exception before the man had even said it. 

Boo Seungkwan came with a lot of rules, and rounds, and exceptions, and plans. Mingyu had never met anyone quite like him in his life, and he was looking forward to learning every little detail, willing to write the rule book on Seungkwan himself if he had to. It seemed like he had a knack for it: he already was figuring him out. 

Not that it was easy - but  _ loving _ Seungkwan certainly was. And Mingyu figured as long as he had that, he could figure the rest out along the way. He was glad that Seungkwan seemed to finally be on board with that plan. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I GOT PROMOTED TO SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE!!!! i cant believe i literally manifested it with this fic lol yup surprise i was hardcore projecting on seungkwan but guess what it worked...... we got promoted at the same time, our power.......
> 
> well thanks for coming on this journey with me I hope you enjoyed it <3 im thinking of doing more fic in this office au exploring other couples/scenarios, leave a like/comment if that sounds like smth you'd like to read! 
> 
> in the meantime you can find me @wooziwinks on twt and shoutout once again to jo (@jigglykwan) for being such a big help with planning this fic and the ultimate boogyu queen! thanks for reading!! :)


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